Adults in Charge 2: Return To the Delta Quadrant
by Pixel and Stephanie Forever
Summary: Years have passed since the rebel fleet won the Earth Civil War. When long range sensor probes pick up Starfleet equipment being used in the Delta Quadrant, Starfleet sends the legendary survivors of Voyager to investigate in a half finished ship.
1. Starting Back To Where It All Started

**Starting Back To Where It All Started **

The wire outline of a starship spun round on the screen in the office. As it went around, it started to fill itself in with little pieces flying in from off screen and settling in the right spots. Soon, a completed Starfleet vessel was revolving on the screen and the smaller monitors on the desk for people to look more closely.

"That is one huge vessel" said a red haired woman.

"Well you built her, Naomi" replied a slightly older woman.

"True, Mezoti…" Naomi Wildman looked back from the screen at her beloved wife. "And now she is ready for her first trials" she added.

Since the Earth Civil War had ended, the group had moved on to other things other the years. The twins returned to their design and consulting business which grew from strength to strength as planets used them to construct planetary defences so they would not suffer the same fate as Proxima III. They had eventually found two women who could not care less about them being formerly part of the Borg Collective, and the wedding was planned to take place on Risa.

Naomi and Mezoti took a year of absence from Starfleet and spent it living on Bajor with Saghi. They took a long time getting over the death of Icheb, and they still expected him to call them at any time. When they returned to Starfleet, the group got together and planned something huge and a tribute to their fallen comrade and friend.

#

_Three Years Earlier_

"Ladies, Gentlemen, invited Transgendered persons and Saghi…" Naomi winked at her friend as a ripple of laughter went around the room, "Some time ago, I was involved in the final battle against Section 31. A lot of good people lost their lives during those months, and my good friend Captain Icheb was among those who gave up their lives. Since then, Starfleet has been making do with what ships we have. We are gathered here today to witness the welding together of the first frames of what will be the newest Starship in the fleet. I invite you to watch as the history of the _USS Icheb_ begins" and they watched as Azan and Rebi, fittingly enough, welded the first two beams together which would create a starship.

#

_Present Time_

_Three Weeks Later_

"Docking complete" said the helm officer.

"Send the list of details to my office on the dock" Naomi said.

"Aye Captain" the Operations manager said. Within an hour, the skeleton crew had disembarked from the _Icheb_. The ship was the first in its class. A mighty starship that was half as big as a _Sovereign_ class, the _Icheb_ was designed to go in where other Starships feared to tread. The remaining members of the '_Voyager_ Six' had worked long and hard on the design. She would feature the latest in computer hardware, sport both warp and transwarp drive, field Plasma Torpedoes in addition to the standard Photons and Quantums, fire phasers and disrupters. Her average cruising speed was Warp 8.8, and her top speed at normal warp was 9.99. She had three impulse engines mounted on the after of her saucer and her neck. Only the two saucer ones would be active under normal circumstances – the one on her neck was behind an armoured door. It had been designed so that they still had impulse if the outer engines were disabled. Her hull was given two layers of ablative armour. Very small phaser cannons were mounted near the nacelles, impulse manifolds and other vital parts of the exterior to help take out incoming torpedoes. With the agreement of the now Admiral Terrik, the _Icheb_ also carried a top of the range Romulan cloaking device. That had been tested by Naomi having the ship decloaking inside the shield grid of Starbase 375 with all weapons on standby. There was then a delay of thirty minutes while three station staff were treated for heart attacks.

"_You have four messages waiting_" the computer said as they walked into their quarters.

"Begin playback" Mezoti said, flinging her bags inside the bedroom. The first two messages were nothing more then replies to questions asked about the _Voyager_ Museum. They would soon be getting the _Delta Flyer II_ for addition to their displays, and also for use as to give quick rides around the solar system. An identical looking shuttle was just being finished with a top speed of Warp 8.9, and secondary shielding for when in use as a fast attack ship. Another message was from the Bajoran government asking for the attendance of the group on Bajor for a rededication of Deep Space Nine. The final message was from Admiral Hochi of Starfleet Operations, so Naomi called that up a reply to that one first.

"_Captain Wildman_" the Japanese man looked over the video link. "_How soon can you be ready to go on a mission_?"

"We've only just put in after testing the _Icheb_" Naomi told him. "I've got a bit of leave time which I'm spending on Bajor with Mezoti" she added.

"_Captain, is this a secured link_?"

"It is now" Mezoti said, pressing a key on the small console.

"_Three days ago, we picked up a number of warp core detonations from the Delta Quadrant – with Starfleet signatures. Our probe relays triangulated the positioning to a remote part of what is known as the D'kona ystem_" Hochi explained in detail the situation. "_You and your wife are the only members of Starfleet that have been in the Delta Quadrant. Your orders are to travel to the D'kona system and investigate what happened. Nobody should be using Warp Drives with Starfleet signatures, so one other part of the mission is to either recover all Starfleet technology or destroy it_"

"What ship are we taking?" asked Mezoti.

"_We're looking around for one now_" Hochi replied. "_But a lot of our ships capable of the trip are otherwise engaged on vital work_"

"Admiral, we've only just put in from the trials. The ship is due for defect repairs and commissioning. If I can get a number of key people, then I can get going in the _Icheb_ in three days" Naomi said.

"_Very well_" Hochi said. "_As of now, you are in Emergency Launch Mode. Transmit a list of personnel that you want as crew, and we'll try to get as many as possible. Hochi out_"

"Who knew I was going home so soon…" said Mezoti lightly.

"Not my idea of another honeymoon, but you get what you are given I suppose" Naomi replied with a smile. "Wildman to drydock control"

"_Control_"

"By order of Admiral Hochi, this dock is under Emergency Launch Protocols. You are ordered to load a full magazine of torpedoes. If you don't have enough in your stores, then steal them from other ships to make it up. Get as many crews as possible working on the defects list. We are launching in three days time. Wildman out"

"_You have a message_" the computer said.

"Open a channel"

"_Captain Wildman. Commander Wildman. I'm Captain Hancock of the Starfleet Science Directorate_" a human male was on the screen. "_Admiral Hochi has asked me to brief you in person with what little information we have. I shall arrive at Utopia in just under half an hour_"

"We'll be waiting for you" Naomi said. "Better come directly to our quarters" she added, and Hancock nodded and closed the link.

"Half an hour…?" questioned Mezoti.

"We can do half an hour…" and Naomi dragged her wife to the bedroom.

#

"Commander, Security reports screams coming from the Wildman quarters"

"No need to worry" said Azan. The Commander looked at him in confusion before realising what Azan had not said.

"I guess they should be starting wormhole penetration by now" she blushed.

"Commander?" the enlisted man called again. "Screams are getting much louder"

"You're not married are you, Crewman?" Rebi was trying to hold in a laugh – and failed.

"No, Sir" the crewman replied.

"Then I suggest that you increase the SIF to that section, and evacuate and close it off until the screaming has stopped" Azan and Rebi spoke at the same time.

# # # # #

Naomi's list of people for department heads included the Doctor as Chief Medical Officer. Given the fact that she had placed the twins on the list as department heads for Engineering and Tactical, they were recruited into Starfleet and given the rank of Commander. With a matter of hours to go, they had a full compliment of crew aboard the _Icheb_ and left drydock for the orbit of Jupiter.

"We have dropped out of Warp" Mezoti said to Naomi as she stepped onto the bridge. As soon as they had cleared the drydock, Naomi had appointed her First Officer of the ship.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Helm, orientate the ship so that we have a bow on approach to the beacon"

"Aye, Aye, Captain" came the answering reply.

"Attention all hands, this is the Captain" Naomi used the shipwide channel. "We are now at rest relative to the beacon marking the loss of the _USS Honour_ lost this day five years ago under the command of this ship's namesake, Captain Icheb. This ship will now observe a minute's silence in respect to his memory" and at the end of the minute, a soft tone played over the speakers. "With the Admiral's permission, we will begin the commissioning ceremony in one hour in the main shuttle bay. Captain out"

"Dress uniforms?" Azan asked.

"Dress uniforms I'm afraid" Naomi confirmed.

"I swear that every computer in Starfleet hates me. Everytime I get a dress uniform from it, the bloody thing always replicates a collar size too small for me" Mezoti grumbled.

# # # # #

Once the Admiral and the rest of the commissioning delegates had disembarked, the crew did some checks of the _Icheb_'s systems. The three week shakedown had indicated a number of problems that needed to be sorted out. The plan was for a month in drydock before sending her out for more trials, but now she would be sent out with very little work done on her. What needed to be done was going to have to take place enroute.

"Captain on the bridge!"

"As you were" Naomi said. She walked out onto the bridge with Mezoti by her side, walked around the rail and sat in the Captain's seat. It looked odd compared to the modern bridge as it was the actual Captain's chair from _Voyager_. "Status report" she ordered.

"Standing by to get under weigh" Azan said. Despite both him and his twin being engaged to be married, both of them had elected to remain onboard for the mission to the Delta Quadrant. Their fiancées had understood that it was a sense of the deepest friendship which tasked them to go with Naomi and Mezoti. Naomi had also decided that this might very well be her final mission on active service, and so, if it was, then they would see the final mission completed together.

"Set course for Bajor" Mezoti said. "Warp 8" and the helm officer turned round to face the senior staff.

"Commander?" she questioned.

"You heard the order, Miss Lost" Naomi said.

"Aye, Captain" Lost was only an Ensign, and was therefore not qualified to question her Captain's change of plans. "Course plotted and laid in"

"Engage" and _Icheb_ jumped to warp. "Rebi, send a message to Deep Space Nine. Inform them that we will be arriving early for the rededication because of our mission"

"I will comply" the man smiled at his friend before tapping at the console.

"Open a private channel to Saghi, and let me know when she replies" Naomi said.

"Understood" Rebi added to the list of things he needed to do.

"_Engineering to bridge_"

"This is the bridge" Azan said.

"_Commander, we're picking up some odd readings from the warp core_" said the Engineer – a Bolian named Brex.

"What kind of odd readings, Mr Brex?" asked Naomi.

"_According to the readouts, we don't have one installed aboard ship_" Brex said. "_I have no idea what to do. This has never happened so far as I know_"

"Look very carefully at the centre of Engineering" Naomi said. "You should see a large tube glowing blue and making a slightly loud humming noise. Can you see it?" she asked

"_Yes, Captain_"

"That is the core, and it is therefore installed on the ship. Reset the core monitoring program. Bridge out" Naomi shook her head. "_Voyager_ was never this bad…" she said, referring to the many times they had had to lay over in some system for repairs to the ship on its way home.

"Message coming in from Deep Space Nine" Rebi said. "They say that everything will be ready for the rededication of the station on time. Saghi is on the line" he added.

"On screen" Naomi ordered, and the group's long time friend came on the main viewer.

"_Hello, Naomi. Hello Mezoti, Azan, Rebi. I see you managed to get out of spacedock_"

"On a wing and a prayer" Naomi replied. "We're heading to Deep Space Nine for the rededication of the station. Should be there in about three days if all goes well"

"_I'll see about getting passage to the station_" Saghi said. "_I wouldn't mind seeing you all again, and maybe get a quick luck around the_ Icheb" she added.

"Actually, I was wondering what you had planned for the next year or so" Naomi said.

"_Working on the farm, selling at the market… you know the sort of thing_" Saghi frowned. "_Why do you ask_?"

"Would you fancy coming with us to the Delta Quadrant?" Naomi grinned as Saghi's jaw dropped in surprise.

"_Are you being serious_?" the Bajoran woman asked.

"You can easily arrange for somebody to look after the farm for a year or so" Naomi said. "It'll be just like old times…" she grinned. "We've got some secret work to do involving some strange sensors readings taken by some of our probes, and we've been sent out to investigate the readings and take whatever action is needed. Care to come with us?"

"_Yes, I'll be there as quick as I can get to Deep Space Nine_" Saghi said. They spoke a few more minutes before Saghi closed the channel to start making arrangements.

"Captain, I must protest" said the tactical officer. "Our mission is classified, and you have just divulged it to a civilian. I must inform you that I will have to contact Starfleet about this breach of regulations"

"Communications are offline" Azan said.

"Captain, I will be reporting this the moment we dock at Deep Space Nine. I request that I be relieved of duty until then"

"Request denied" Naomi said. "However, you may finish your shift now and return to your quarters" the tactical officer secured his console before leaving the bridge.

"Kids…" Rebi muttered thickly.

# # # # #

"We have arrived at the outer edge of the Bajoran system" the shift's helm reported.

"Very well" Azan said, and opened a link to Naomi's com badge. "Naomi, we are at the outer edge of the Bajoran system"

"_Understood. Set course for Deep Space Nine, and lay in at full impulse. Contact Saghi on the station and route the reply to my quarters_"

"Aye, Captain" Azan looked at his twin and nodded.

"Set course for Deep Space Nine" they said at the same time. "All engines full reverse" and they had been going for several minutes before the helm officer realised he had been duped.

#

Once they had docked, a number of supplies were loaded aboard the _Icheb_ whilst Naomi, Mezoti, Azan and Rebi went on the station for the rededication ceremony. Sitting in the front row, one place was left empty to symbolise Icheb's absence from the event. Deep Space Nine seemed different from the last time the group had been onboard. Colonel Kira was, by now, a General and had been given command of all of the Militia forces. Quark had retired to Risa after handing over the business to Jake Sisko and his nephew Nog. The ever dependable Odo still walked the promenade though, and Morn was still propping up the bar in his normal seat. After paying a courtesy visit to the station Commander, they re-boarded the _Icheb_ and checked in on the ship before having a few drinks in a holographic simulation of Sandrine's. The following morning, and with a number of headaches all around, they went to the bridge for the departure. Whilst they had been docked, work crews quickly finished the Icheb's final fitting out. She had left spacedock with many of her compartments incomplete, and she would need them before going into the Delta Quadrant.

"All lines secured" said the Operations officer. "Airlocks have been cleared"

"Very well" Mezoti said.

"Release docking clamps" Naomi instructed. "Aft thrusters at one half. Port and starboard at station keeping" and very gently, _Icheb_ eased back from Upper Pylon 2 and cleared the station.

"Undocking complete" helm reported. "We are clear and free to navigate"

"Secure the thrusters" Azan ordered.

"_Not so loud_" hissed Naomi quietly.

"Bring us about to 118 mark 25" Mezoti said. _Icheb_ swung round to starboard and powered away from the station.

"Incoming message from Deep Space Nine" Rebi said as the console alerted him. "'Don't forget the milk'"

"Reply with 'Will one bottle be enough?'. That should take care of them" Naomi said. "Helm, access the Delta Quadrant maps and plot a course for the Tintara System"

"Course plotted"

"Engage at Warp 9" and the ship jumped to Warp towards the Delta Quadrant.

"Bringing Transwarp Drive online" Azan said. "Now available at your command"

"Helm, engage the transwarp drive, and continue in power until you get to 50% of total output" Naomi leaned back in her chair. "Alrighty then! Lets see how this baby can fly…"


	2. Starting the Search

**Starting the Search **

The trip to the Delta Quadrant was going to take four months, and so there was very little to do except watch over the sensors and consoles for any sign of overheating in the propulsion systems. They settled into the slightly dull routine of shipboard life, but a couple of birthdays took place, and the wedding anniversary of Naomi and Mezoti was celebrated by the group with a quiet dinner in the Wildman quarters. The entire crew was given a slice of cheesecake and jelly and ice cream which seemed to please them. Once they had approached the point marking the crossing between the Alpha and Delta Quadrants, the _Icheb _had put into an uninhabited system for a variation of an old nautical tradition on Earth.

"WHO DARES TO CROSS THE LINE?" the large bird asked. Naomi was wearing a giant costume of a golden bird, and sat on a large throne on the holodeck in front of the entire crew.

"These chicks request that they journey beyond their limits" Mezoti said.

"Who are these trespassers?" Naomi asked.

"They claim to be explorers. I think them to" said Azan.

"They say that they have never heard of your kingdom" Rebi put in.

"But all know of the Great Bird of the Galaxy" Mezoti added. "When we saw them, we captured their pathetic ship and clapped them in irons to await your decision"

"Bring forth the first prisoner to be judged worthy of crossing my kingdom and their limits" Naomi said. The most senior member of the crew present was dragged forwards by Azan and Rebi – acting as Royal Guards. "Who are you, and why do you think you should cross into my kingdom?"

"I am Lisa, your Highness" the Lieutenant Commander said, adding a curtsey for good measure. "I did not know of your existence. If I had, I would not have presumed to intrude upon your domain. I am on a mission of great importance for the group of people I represent"

"Do you repent your sin? Do you regret trespassing?" Naomi asked.

"I do"

"My liege, I say we test her honesty by making her run the gauntlet. If she can complete it, then she is honest and true of word and character" Mezoti said.

"So mote it be!" Naomi ordered, then sat in her throne and watched as the officer was put through the gauntlet. It was made up of a few puzzles which had to be completed whilst getting soaked by gigantic water cannons.

"I humbly request that I enter your kingdom" the officer said as she stood in front of the throne

"Do you promise to never bear arms against me? Do you promise to not spread treason or commit the act thereof around my domain? Do you promise to defend my kingdom until death or victory?" Naomi asked.

"I do so swear it!" Naomi reached out and placed one hand on the woman's head and addressed the others waiting and watching

"LET ALL THOSE WITHIN THE SOUND OF MY VOICE TAKE HEED. THIS WOMAN HAS BEEN FOUND TRUE AND HONEST. SHE MAY ENTER MY KINGDOM WITHOUT FEAR FROM THIS DAY FORWARDS!" and over the next few hours, the rest of the crew were put through the gauntlet and the questions.

"My liege!" Azan called from the back the group. "I have discovered another wishing to enter" and he pulled Saghi behind him.

"Oh mighty Great Bird, I wish to cross the line and enter your domain so that I might aid my friends on their most worthy mission. My hesitation was at seeing how fearsome your Royal Bodyguards were. My purpose is to stand by my friends in their time of need" Saghi said.

"You willingly choose the danger?"

"I do" Saghi nodded. "They saved me from a certain death a long time ago. I could not call myself their friend if I was not willing to aid them in their most dangerous task. They, of course, have already passed over the line before they met me"

"Who was it?"

"Naomi Wildman, Mezoti, Azan, Rebi and Icheb" Saghi said.

"Then you need not go through the tests. If you are a friend of Captain Wildman, then you may enter the kingdom without fear of being attacked by my Royal Guards" Naomi said. A flash of light, and a well timed transporter beam, ensured that the crew saw Naomi vanish into thin air.

# # # # #

_Six Weeks Later_

"Approaching the Tintara system" the helm called out.

"Very well" Azan said. "Slow to one half impulse. Science station, began a sensor sweep of the area. Bridge to Captain"

"_Naomi here_"

"We have reached the Tintara system" Azan said. "We are running sensor sweeps now"

"_I'm on my way up now_" said Naomi.

"Sensor sweep completed, Commander" the science officer reported. "My scopes are clear. Nothing so much as a whisper" she added.

"Put us on a course that will take us out of the system after going through the middle" Azan said.

"And somebody get me a glass of Papilla juice" growled Naomi as she stepped onto the bridge. She was carrying a plate of French toast in her hands, and skilfully kept it upright as she took her seat. The Captain had been interrupted in the middle of breakfast, and she was not going to let it go cold on account of the fact it was one of her favourite breakfast foods.

"Good Morning, Naomi" Azan said. "We are on course heading out of the system on full impulse power. We should go past all planets and the local sun in approximately twenty nine hours"

"Go to long range sensors" Naomi ordered. "Scan for traces of a Starfleet type"

"Starfleet?" the science officer was surprised.

"Knew there was something…" Naomi swallowed some more of her breakfast before speaking. "Starfleet Command believes that long range probes have detected Starfleet signatures… active ones. Nobody has any ideas why this is, but I am one of the few to have extensive knowledge of the area. Our orders are to find as much technology as possible and bring it home. Anything too big to fit in our cargo bay is to be cut into small pieces and fired into the nearest sun. Set course foe the D'kora system – Warp 6"

"Ready, Captain" the helm replied.

"I want continuous scans of the regions ahead. Despite the data in _Voyager_'s computers, and the navigational data of the Borg computers, this is still an unknown region of space. If we didn't keep an eye out for dangers, we could run into a plasma storm, comet or even Santa Claus without knowing. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not go home as one of the group that killed Christmas…" the bridge crew laughed at the joke. "Helm, engage"

"Aye, captain" and _Icheb _jumped to warp.

"Commander Wildman will conduct a briefing at 10:30 hours. I want all department heads present there" Naomi said.

#

"D'kora" Mezoti said, "Is a system made up of five planets. The first two are uninhabited as of the latest information we have. The next one out from the sun is a gas giant of remarkable resemblance to Jupiter. The outer two are in what is known as the habitable zone" the display screen in the briefing room changed to show the outer two planets more closely. "D'kora IV supports a Pre-Warp society, and therefore the Prime Directive is in operation with regards to what we do there. D'kora V is capable of supporting life, but it does not, however, do so. There are four major continents with a number of small to large islands dotted around the oceans. It is twice as big as Earth, but has the same gravity as most other Class M planets" Mezoti pressed a button and the screen changed to show just the fifth planet. First it did a vague white outline, then gradually filled in the planet until it showed a wire frame of the planet and the landmasses over the top of a cloudy planet. It looked like Earth, but with the reddish atmosphere of Vulcan

"Do the readings indicate that planet?" asked the head of the security department.

"We are uncertain" Mezoti said. "We shall have to closer and conduct more scans. It does seem the most likely option though from the five planets. However, the question is not who, or what, is using Starfleet equipment, but how it got this far out of Federation space" she said.

"Could it be another lifeform like the Caretaker?" asked the Chief Medical Officer.

"Perhaps, but very unlikely" Naomi Answered. "I have been over the logs and reports from both Captain Janeway and Commander Tuvok. Both state that the Caretaker was adamant that there was only one other like it in the Delta Quadrant. The later encounter with Saspella also confirms that she was the only one of its kind there. Whatever they are _could_ have sent another to find out why they lost contact, but somehow I do not think that is very likely"

"I concur" Mezoti said. "Since the death of the Caretaker, there have been no other ships which have gone missing in such a manner"

"And I do not think that Section 31's remains made it this far out" Azan said.

"I was wondering who was going to say that" said Naomi shaking her head. "The people on D'kora IV have a number of optical telescopes in orbit of their planet. I would assume they have some type of spacecraft to patrol the system. We shall therefore drop out of warp just before going into the system and engage the cloaking device. Once we have set up an orbit on the side of the planet that is facing away from D'kora IV, we shall drop the cloak and begin launching survey shuttles. They will be too small to be seen with Pre-Warp scanners, and we can cloak the _Icheb_ long before they could see us"

"Whilst we are here, I would like to run the standard planetary sweeps. We would have more up to date information about the geological makeup of D'kora V. We would also be able to detect any traces of Warp capable starships with Starfleet signatures. If somebody is using captured vessels, we can run their warp core traces through the database" Mezoti looked around at the room. "Any questions?"

"Very well then" said Naomi when nobody asked anything. "We'll commence scanning from a lightyear out, dismiss. Commander Wildman, you will remain please" and Mezoti was mildly surprised.

"Is there something you want?" she asked.

"Computer, lock the door and disable communications to this room" Naomi took off her comm badge and put it on the briefing room table. "Spill it" she told her wife.

"Spill what?"

"Cut it out, Mez" Naomi said. "I can tell when you are upset or nervous about something"

"Have you seen the most sensible course that the computer suggests?" Mezoti was toyed with the PADD in her hands.

"Of course I have" Naomi said.

"Well the course might have been a little… incomplete" Mezoti looked down at her feet.

"What do you mean?" Naomi frowned as she stood and went over to her wife.

"Certain parts of our course have us enter Norcadian space" and everything fell into place for Naomi.

"You think that your people will try to take you back?" she asked quietly.

"I don't want to lose you" said Mezoti in a whisper.

"They will never get their hands on you" Naomi held her tightly. "And, if you remember, we have a score to settle after all. If we find those people that killed my mom, Neelix, Seven, Captain Janeway and everyone else, I'll use them as target practice"

# # # # #

"Approaching D'kora V, Commander"

"Very well" Rebi said. "Rebi to Naomi"

"_Naomi here_"

"We are approaching the planet now. I thought you should be aware"

"_Thanks, Rebi. Standard approach I should think. Keep the cloak up, and watch out for ships from D'kora IV. We'll be joining you in half an hour_"

"Understood" Rebi said. "Bridge out" and he closed the channel and look to the helm. "Slow to three quarters impulse power, and adjust our position to the planet so we are in an optimal scanning orbit" he ordered.

"Slowing to impulse"

"Science officer, give me a pre approach scan" Rebi glanced over.

"Scanning… There are no ships close to D'kora V. I am reading some small vessels around D'kora IV though. They seem to be shuttles and cargo craft of some kind"

"Understood" Rebi said. "Maintain our approach" and the _Icheb_ flew through space – invisible to the naked eye. They slipped into orbit and began scanning the surface for anything that would give them a clue as to who or what was using Starfleet equipment.

# # # # #

After four days they had exhausted the Science department with all of the tests. When Naomi was satisfied that the planet was safe to land on, she granted the crew a day's shore leave to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. She and the rest of her friends took a shuttle and hovered low over the waters of a large on the northern of the continents. They opened the rear ramp and used it as both a diving platform or to sit on the edge and go fishing from the shuttle. There had been no fish until a few hours before when Azan had replicated a fish, taken it to sickbay and ordered the young nurse on duty to make it live. The fact that the date was April 1st had nothing to do with the matter. When they had had enough, they landed in a clearing and lay by the lakeside and took in the sun – allowing the warmth to caress their skin slightly.

"Icheb_ to Captain Wildman_"

"If this isn't God, then I'm hanging up…" muttered Naomi.

"_Captain, we've got a slight problem on our hands here_" a nervous Ensign said.

"What is it?" the woman brought herself to a more alert state.

"_One of the ships from D'kora IV has blown its engines and lost main power. They are going to drift into the sun in about five hours. They have sent out a distress call, but their people have nothing that will get to them in time_" the young man was doing what all Ensigns were taught at Starfleet Academy – pass the buck on higher up.

"Standby to beam us and the shuttle to Shuttle Bay 2" Naomi said. "Captain out" and roused the others from their drowsyness.

"Whurzisit?" asked Mezoti.

"One of those little science ships from D'kora IV has blown its engines and is drifting into the sun" Naomi said. "They have nothing else in range" she added.

"Uggggg" Mezoti said. She could snap awake when needed, but dozing off in a warm sun had always got her. Rebi applied 10cc's of Coffee directly to her system, and she was soon as full of energy as a supernova. She was irritated when Azan went round taking stuff off the ground whilst whistling what sounded very much like '_Pack up your troubles in your old kitbag_', and made a note to go back in time and kill the person who came up with that song.

#

"At their current rate of increasing speed, they will have only twelve minutes left" said the science officer.

"Are we going to let them die?" asked the Ops officer.

"Saving them would constitute a violation of the Prime Directive" Azan reminded him.

"But then again" his twin added, "Starfleet vessels are sworn to respond to a distress call – no matter who gives the call"

"Caught between a rock and a hard place" said Mezoti quietly. The viewscreen on the bridge showed the small and fragile looking science vessel hurtling towards the fiery sun.

"Damned if we do, and damned if we don't" Naomi weighed the decision in her mind. "Captain to Sickbay"

"_Sickbay_"

"Evacuate the place except for your most trusted staff. We're taking on some… guests of a secret nature. Wildman out" Naomi looked around. "Clear the bridge" she ordered. "Computer, discontinue recording of all systems until further notice"

'_Acknowledged_' it replied.

"Tractor beam is ready at your command" Mezoti said from the Engineering station.

"Grab them, Mez" Naomi said. "You two" she referred to the twins, "See what you can do about planting some false information into their computers to say that a quick eruption from the surface caused enough of a shock wave to push them back a little" and they set to work. Although they could not reveal their existence to people that did not have Warp Drive, Naomi could not just sit back and watch people die. She intended to make a note of it in the ship's official log about the incident, and the details of what she had done would also go in the entry.

#

"How are they?" Naomi asked as she entered Sickbay. The four person crew looked very much human, and wore what appeared to be jumpsuits of some kind that looked like uniforms.

"I have treated their radiation poisoning in the standard way" the Doctor said. "I have also fused together a number of broken bones and stopped some internal bleeding in their Captain" he added.

"And you are sure that the rescuers will not know you have treated them?" Naomi asked him.

"They will notice a few abnormalities when they examine the crew, but I have done everything so that they will assume anything is down to radiation"

"A pity that the Doctor isn't here" Naomi said. "No offence to you, of course, but the Doctor would have loved to get his hands on a new species" and the _Icheb_'s CMO nodded in agreement. _Voyager_'s Doctor had more experiences of his own then many other medical staff had in their entire careers.

"I am going to run another bloodwork" he said. "It should be alright to put them back in the ship now, but I just want to be sure…"

"Well the rescue ships will be in what passes for their scanners range in about half an hour" Naomi told the Doctor. "They should be put aboard before that"

#

"Ship's Log, Supplimental. The crew of the science vessel have been returned to their ship after being treated for severe radiation poisoning as well as other injuries. In order to minimise the breaking of the Prime Directive, all four of them were kept under sedation during treatment. It was my decision alone as Captain to break the regulation concerning contact with Pre-Warp societies, however I remind those that listen to this recording of the Starfleet regulation that demands we respond to a distress call – no matter who gives it. I say again for the record that I alone took the decision to break the Prime Directive, and ordered my crew to do so. We are continuing the search in the systems laid out for us by Starfleet Command. All other aspects are well. I am pleased to report that ship and crew have functioned well"

#

"So what have we found?" asked Naomi the following day.

"Sensors revealed the presence of Starfleet equipment, but it has been gone for a number of years" Mezoti said. "I suspect that the ship landing here might have been using this planet as a stop over"

"Sensors did detect a faint warp trail leading to the system that's next on our list" the science officer said.

"Very well…" Naomi looked again at the data. "We'll leave the system in one hour. Have all teams finish collecting scientific data as quickly as possible. Dismiss" and the assembled crew left the briefing room. Only her friends remained in the room as Naomi had mentioned she wanted to speak to them about something after the meeting.

"I have applied a couple of tests that Icheb came up with" Mezoti said.

"And?"

"You are correct in your guesses" her wife said.

"I could leave if this is supposed to be secret…" Saghi offered.

"No… you have a right to know this information" Naomi sighed. "During some of the soil sampling, the computer noticed a couple of energy markers from what seemed to be a transporter. I thought I knew what the patterns were, but I asked Mez to go over them herself and double check my results. We now know who is using Starfleet equipment and maybe even ships" and the twins and Saghi looked at her.

"Who?" asked the Bajoran.

"The most mortal enemy that has ever existed" Naomi said. "The Borg" and the others paled at the mere mention of the name.

"After all of this time…?" Azan said in a near whisper.

"They have not been seen for over twenty years" Rebi said.

"The last Federation starship to encounter the Borg was us before we came back to the Alpha Quadrant" Naomi said. "They may have been taking ships that they captured at Wolf 359, repairing them and then bringing them back to the Federation as Trojan Horses. We'd all go happy as Larry with the shields down, and we're all servicing the Collective the next moment"

"Is there anything that we can do?" asked Saghi. Unlike the others, she was not an experienced Starship crew and had not been in a battle – minus the one that had nearly killed her.

"I have no idea" Naomi admitted. "Who knows what they have assimilated over the last twenty odd years. On the plus side though, we have got the most modern ship in Starfleet. That should help us when we finally meet them, but first we are going to make a courtesy call to Norcadia. There is a little debt we have to settle with them first…" and Saghi saw the expressions of Azan, Rebi and Mezoti harden into stone.

"We do indeed…" Azan said.

"For _Voyager_'s crew" Rebi added his piece.

"Captain to bridge" Naomi opened the channel she had been keeping on standby.

"_Bridge. Lieutenant Commander Kiska here_"

"We're going after a new target" Naomi said. "Access Delta Quadrant navigational charts, plot a course to Norcadia Prime and proceed at Warp 9.5"

"_Aye, Captain_" Kiska's voice was of somebody who was ordered to do sudden course changes all of the time.

"Once you have done that, send a subspace message to Norcadia Prime" Mezoti stirred from her thoughts.

"_What shall I say to them_?" Now the only other Bajoran on the _Icheb_ was curious to say the least.

"Once they are within range of the long range sensors, drop the cloak and send the following message: 'Mezoti is back… start running'"


	3. Back To Where It All Started

**Back To Where It All Started **

"What is our ETA?" asked Naomi.

"13:45 ship time" Azan said. "I could tell you the local time if you wish" but Naomi shook her head.

"We've got seven hours until we reach the Norcadian system" she said. "Seven hours to wait…"

"We could engage the transwarp drive" said Rebi. "We would be there in seconds…"

"And let me people off a few hours of sweating?" Mezoti snorted. "My only regret is that we're not capable of landing on the surface. I would have loved to see their Cabinet's reactions when they see a fully armed warship decloaking in the middle of the capital" she added with a laugh.

"Now that _would_ be somethi-" Naomi was cut off by the intercom.

"_Yellow Alert, Yellow Alert! All stations Yellow Alert. Captain Wildman, please report to the bridge. Repeat: Yellow Alert! All stations, Yellow Alert!_"

"Captain to bridge. What's up?"

"_Picking up a large number of vessels heading on an intercept course. Estimate seven minutes until weapons range_"

"We're on our way" Naomi said, and closed the link.

# # # # #

"Captain on the bridge!"

"As you were" Naomi said as she stepped out of the turbolift. "Report!"

"Captain, long range sensors detected a large fleet of vessels coming from Norcadia Prime. Differing types. They match the dimensions of the ships you encountered before" Kiska said, standing up from the centre seat.

"Naomi, two of the vessels are registering as those we battled before" Azan said, looking at sensor readouts.

"Oh, well then…" Naomi said. "It'll be a reunion of sorts" she took her seat as her friends assumed their stations - displacing the crew there to other positions around the bridge.

"They have detected us and have raised shields" Mezoti said.

"All stations reporting manned and standing by" Rebi said.

"Time to intercept?" asked Naomi.

"Two minutes" the helm officer replied.

"All stop" Naomi announced suddenly.

"All stop, Aye, Captain" came the correct reply. "Controls reading full stoop, Captain"

"The lead vessels are powering weapons" reported tactical.

"Understood" Naomi said.

"Captain, I recommend that we go to Red Alert"

"Are you sure?" asked Azan, not taking his eyes off his console. "It does mean changing the light bulb" and a few of the bridge crew sniggered.

"Now reading full stop" helm reported.

"Very well" Naomi said. "We'll not arm our weapons until we actually have to" she said.

"Understood, captain. I request my protest be entered into the log"

"Request granted" Naomi said.

"Norcadian fleet has come to a halt" Mezoti said.

"Are they within weapon's range?" Naomi asked.

"Well within for us" her wife replied. "However, they are outside the range for an _Intrepid_ class ship. I can only assume that they think we are limited to the same range" she added.

"Open hailing frequencies" Naomi ordered.

"Channel open" Azan said.

"This is Captain Naomi Wildman of the Federation starship _USS Icheb_. We bring greetings from our home planets" but there was no reply. "Are we sending?" she asked quietly.

"Communication channels are working at optimal levels" Azan told her. "They can hear us, but they don't seem to be in the mood to talk" and Naomi looked back at the main view screen. "Are they running silent?" she asked.

"Negative" Mezoti said. "I am detecting rapid communications between the lead vessels and what appears to be a flagship of some kind"

"Can you patch us in?"

"Give me a minute to do it" Mezoti said. "Just about… there!" she said.

"… _ship. Unless, of course, they have changed the ship's name_"

"_I say that we attack now and blow it up_"

"_I say we disable the thing and put the crew on a prison asteroid_"

"_If we went up against our enemies with a ship like that, we would be unstoppable. That other one got away, but this time we will finish the job that I started all those years ago_" the different ship Captain's discussed the method of dealing with the _Icheb_ with the flagship.

"No…." Mezoti said in a whisper.

"Mez?" Naomi swung round in her chair.

"It can't be… She wouldn't have…" Mezoti was looking at the ships with horror etched into her face.

"What is it, Mezoti?"

"I know the flagship commander" Mezoti turned to face her wife. "And the person who ordered the deaths of every single member of _Voyager_'s crew" and a chill came over the bridge.

"We are being hailed" Rebi said.

"Really?" Naomi turned back from a worried Mezoti. "Open a channel" she ordered.

"_I am Chancellor Gratis_. _You are not welcome in Norcadian space. You have two minutes to put your ship about and leave before we open fire_"

"This is Captain Wildman" Naomi said. "We are on a mission of great importance to the Federation. Our charted course brought us close t-" Naomi was cut off at the same time as Mezoti stood from the science station

"_I do not care about that_" Gratis said, her voice full of both loathing and greed. "_Turn your ship around, or we will blast you to-_" but Mezoti spoke six, and only six, powerful words.

"Hello Mother. Did you miss me?" Mezoti's eye flashed.

"_Mezoti_…_?_" Gratis said. "_Captain, you will surrender yourselves and your ship. You will also turn over my daughter to my custody. I shall attempt to undo whatever kind of brainwashing you have done to her. Failure to comply will mean we take her by force – including killing your crew if we have to_"

"Chancellor, I must warn you that any attempt to lock weapons on this ship will result in this vessel considering it as a hostile act, and we shall reply accordingly. As it happens, thanks to information I have just been given, I am ordering you to surrender and be prepared to answer charges of murder"

"_I don't have to listen to this! Target that vessel_" and with that, Gratis shut the link off.

"All Norcadian vessels have targeted us" said Azan.

"Red Alert! All hands man Battlestations" Naomi said.

"_Red Alert! Red Alert! All hands, man your Battlestations. Man your Battlestations! All hands, Red Alert!_" the computer intoned. The bridge darkened and the klaxons sounded.

"Charge forward phaser banks. Load torpedo bays with standard photon warheads" Mezoti said.

"Mez, you can leave if you want" Naomi said.

"My place is on the bridge" her wife replied.

"Fleet is assuming a hostile formation" Azan said.

"Target the flagship and prepare to fire a full spread of torpedoes" Naomi ordered.

"Now we're talking" the tactical officer said.

"Hail them now" Naomi said.

"No response" Rebi said just as the ship was hit by plasma weapons.

"I disagree" Naomi said dryly. "Report"

"That was a charged plasma packet" the tactical officer said. "No hull damage. Shields remain at 100%"

"Return fire" and phasers and photon torpedoes lashed out and hit the Flagship. It lost half of its shields in just one wave, but the rest of the fleet joined in the attack.

"I have been scanning their computer hardware, and it seems to be of the same level as our last encounter with them" Rebi said.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning" he smiled at Naomi, "That I could break their encryption codes and take command of their ships"

"Do it" she ordered. "Helm, bring us about to 180 mark 24. Ahead one half impulse power. Bridge to Engineering"

"_Engineering_" Brex's voice came through.

"I want you to vent plasma from the port nacelle. Hopefully our attackers will think that we are more damaged then we look"

"_Aye, Captain_"

"Target the aft phaser strips on the enemy vessels" Naomi ordered. "I want it to look as if we are retreating. Switch forward launchers to quantum torpedoes, and then have the next load fitted with Borg derived warheads" she looked at Mezoti. "Let me know the moment they get within minimal torpedo range" and Mezoti nodded.

"Plasma now being vented" Rebi said.

"Enemy vessels closing fast" Mezoti called.

"Mixed loads are ready" tactical called out.

"I am detecting the same kind of poison they used on _Voyager_" Azan said.

"Biological warfare?" Naomi shook her head. "The gloves are off. Helm, all stop. Flip the ship so we appear upside down to the Norcadians. Tactical, lock on the lead vessel with Quantum torpedoes and stand by to fire. Ready phasers for surgical strike on shields"

"All stop" Helm reported. "Flipping the ship"

"Standing by to fire"

"Target their forward weapons array. Have phaser cannons one through five targeting the other vessels" Naomi watched as the viewscreen seemed to fall over itself as _Icheb_ brought itself end over end to face the pursuing vessels.

"Awaiting your command" the tactical officer said.

"Steady… steady…" Naomi counted in her mind the seconds until she was happy. "Steady… FIRE!" and the torpedoes lashed out from the ship and just obliterated the shields of the flagship. "Second salvo… Fire!" and the Borg torpedoes sparkled with light as they travelled to their target – hitting the forward weapons arrays and taking them out completely.

"Light cruisers coming around, and are trying to outflank us" Mezoti said.

"Tactical, redirect nacelle cannons to fire as they bear"

"Aye, Captain"

"I have nearly finished entering their computer systems" Rebi said.

"Good job" Naomi praised. "Let me know the moment we are in" she added.

"_Warning: Port power grid is offline_" the computer announced.

"The grid just detected a surge and shut down automatically. Bringing secondary shield grid in place" Azan said. "Rerouting to compensate" he added, just as a slight tremor shook them slightly.

"Report!"

"They got a lucky shot in just as the shield went back up" Azan said. "No hull damage, but we have lost our portside defensive guns"

"Well we don't need them anyway" said Naomi. "Target their primary power couplings and stand by to fire"

"Ready"

"Fire" and a combination of phaser, disrupters and torpedoes of all types lashed out and took down the main power systems of every ship at once. "Report" Naomi ordered.

"All enemy vessels have been forced to go to secondary power systems. Shields and are offline. Their warp drives have been disabled" Mezoti said.

"I have now gained access to their computer systems" Rebi said.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Have them come to a complete stop, and then disengage their impulse engines"

"Aye" Rebi worked his controls.

"Casualty reports from Sickbay coming in" Azan said. "No fatalities. One injury though"

"How bad?"

"Paper cut"

"Not bad…" Naomi mused, then looked at the Norcadian vessels on the viewer. "Rebi, can you patch me into their internal communications grid please?"

"Sure thing, Naomi" Rebi said. "You're on"

"Attention Norcadian vessels! This is Captain Wildman. You are no match for our vessel, and you have no chance of winning in a continuing battle. So far, we used only a fraction of this ship's offensive capability, and I do not want to cause bloodshed. However, if you do not surrender your vessels to me in the next one minute, then we will resume firing and utterly destroy you. You have sixty seconds starting from now" and to press home how serious she was, the computer started counting the minute down.

"No reply yet" Rebi said.

"Come on…" Naomi said. "Don't make me do this…"

"Power grid back up to full strength" said Azan. "It would have been something to sort out during our defect repairs in Drydock" he added.

"I am picking up coded transmissions between the fleet and the flagship. Shall I decode?" asked Rebi.

"Don't bother" said Naomi. "Their time is up. Tactical, target each ship's warp core and fire on my comma-"

"_WAIT!_" a voice cried out.

"Hold fire" Naomi said. "Is this surrender?" she asked the voice.

"_Chancellor Gratis is no longer in command of this fleet_" said a male voice. "_We surrender_"

"If this is some kind of trick, then you are going to be very sorry" Naomi said.

"Very sorry indeed" Mezoti said. "They will be dead"

"Standby" Naomi muted the channel. "Azan, did we get the cargo bays fitted out?" she asked.

"Cargo Bay One is fully operative" he replied, looking at her with curiosity. "But bays Two and Three only have life support on them. We never got round to fitting the stack shelves" and Naomi smiled.

"Good enough" she said. "Have a detail go down there with some blankets and pillows. Looks like we're taking on prisoners" and Azan grinned and passed on the order.

"Captain?" the tactical officer queried. "Are you sure about that? Starfleet regulations state that we must treat prisoners fairly and decently"

"But we are" Naomi said. "We're giving them a blanket and pillow. And we'll feed them and give them medical attention if they need it"

"What about recreational needs?"

"All that wide open cargo bay space…?" Naomi said sweetly. "Not my fault if they don't like running that much" and the officer grinned back at her. "Are you still there?" she asked the voice.

"_Yes_"

"We will take you aboard as our prisoners until we reach Norcadia" Naomi said. "You will leave your vessels' bridge and engineering spaces at once. Failure to comply with that order will result in resumption of hostilities"

"_Understood, Captain_. _I will shut down life support to those locations to ensure compliance with your orders_"

"_Icheb_ out. Azan, do a full sweep of their vessels for lifesigns. Relay the positions to the transporter rooms and have them beam everyone to the bays" Naomi said.

"With your permission, I should like to be there when they arrive with a security team" Mezoti said. Naomi took a full ten seconds to think it over in her mind.

"Granted" she knew who her wife wanted to meet. "Actually, I think I will join you. About time I met my mother in law" Naomi said, getting out of her chair. "Continue evacuation of the enemy vessels. Once they are empty, scan them to be sure, and then let me know. Azan, Rebi – you're with us. Commander Kiska, you have the bridge" and with that the friends took the turbolift deep into _Icheb_.

# # # # #

The Norcadians appeared in the cargo bays in columns of blueish white light, and all under the watchful eyes of a security detachment.

"_Bridge to Captain_"

"Captain here"

"_Last group beaming aboard now, Ma'am_"

"Understood" Naomi said. The last group shimmered into view and Mezoti gave a yell of rage before diving into the crowd. "Oh shit…" Naomi cursed as she followed with the security team.

"Somebody give me a phaser!" Mezoti shouted as she hit an elegantly dressed woman in the jaw.

"Mez, stop it at once" Naomi said, dragging her wife off whilst the security team put themselves between the two. "What the hell are you thinking of?" she demanded.

"Naomi, meet your mother in law…" Mezoti spat. Naomi got her first close view of the woman that had ordered the killing of her mother over twenty years ago. She had given up hope of getting justice for the deaths of _Voyager_'s crew a long time ago, but now she faced the person who ordered the wanton murder of an entire crew.

"Security" she breathed deeply to keep her anger in check. "Take this prisoner to Sickbay. Have the duty Doctor give her a full examination. I want you to remain with her at all times with phasers on heavy stun. Once it is completed, you are to remove her to the Brig in maximum security conditions. Around the clock suicide watch. Oh, and put her in full prison clothing while you're at it. She's coming back with us to stand trial" Naomi gestured at Gratis. "Take her away"

"You can't do this" she said as she struggled. "Our fleet will kill everyone here to rescue us"

"Oh, please…" Azan said.

"Try it" Rebi said.

"This ship could walk over your fleet with cleats, and you damned well know it" Naomi said. "After finding out who you are, you are lucky that I didn't give my wife the phaser herself"

"Your wife?" Gratis said, and turned as best as she could to look at Mezoti. "You're a freak for being in a relationship like that. How can you do this to me? My only daughter – whoring herself…" and whatever Gratis said was not known as she was in on both sides of the jaw by Azan and Rebi.

"Don't you"

"Ever dare"

"Talk about our friend like that" they finished. Naomi and the rest of the Starfleet group blinked in amazement. The twins were known for their mildness, but clearly they felt Gratis had crossed the line.

"Security, carry out my orders" Naomi said, then turned to the other prisoners. "I assume you'll all stay here and be quiet?" she asked, and they all nodded quickly – lest they get the same punishment.

"_Bridge to Captain_"

"Bridge, this is the Captain. Go ahead"

"_All vessels are completely empty_" Kiska said. "_Nothing of any salvageable value_"

"Very well" Naomi said. "Access their drive systems and activate an overload. Remove all safeties. Once they are destroyed, resume course for Norcadia Prime Warp 6"

"_Aye_"

"I am a head of state!" Gratis shouted as she was dragged to the bay doors.

"You are a head of state on Norcadia" Naomi shook her head. "On my ship, however, you are nothing more then a murderer and criminal. Take her away" and Gratis was dragged away by security.

# # # # #

"I don't know what came over me…" Mezoti said. "She just appeared and I felt such a powerful rage wash over me" she swallowed her drink.

"It took everything I had in me to not pull a phaser on her and execute her on the spot" Naomi admitted. "My first wish was to blow a huge hole in the side of her ship – let her die slowly like _Voyager_'s crew. But we'll take her back to the Federation so she can stand trial" and she looked at her wife. "As it happens, you did strike an unarmed prisoner. There will have to be a note put into your file" and Mezoti nodded glumly.

"I wouldn't expect anything else" she said.

"Or, you can accept summery judgement at Captain's Discretion" Naomi finished.

"Summery… thanks" Mezoti said. By giving her a choice of punishments, Naomi was going to overlook as much of the assault as possible.

"Commander Wildman" Naomi spoke in a formal tone. "As the Commanding Officer of the _USS Icheb_, it is my decision that you are not fit to wear a Starfleet uniform. As punishment, you will be remanded to the bedroom of this vessel's Captain where she has a range of interesting paddles and other toys to use on you" and Mezoti squeaked as Naomi smacked her on the backside. She wouldn't have any issues following this punishment at all.

# # # # #

Gratis was taken to Sickbay, examined and treated and then taken to the _Icheb_'s maximum security brig. She was issued clothing worn by prisoners in the Federation, and told either to put it on herself, or she would be forcibly stripped and shoved into it by the security detail. Under the circumstances, she decided to put it on herself and without any help. As she sat in the cell, she plotted her revenge on Naomi for taking her daughter from her.

# # # # #

The ship sailed through the night, and the crew created a new program so the power grid wouldn't fail next time in battle. They still had two other sets of shields to call upon, but it was best that it was sorted out anyway. The next day, _Icheb_ truly entered Norcadian space and Kiska called Naomi to the bridge.

"This better be good…" she rubbed the side of her head – the result of the mask being on too tight the previous night.

"Captain, we've been monitoring Norcadian transmissions as you ordered. We've picked up stuff that sounds like attack orders" Kiska said.

"With regards to us?" Naomi asked.

"To their own ships, Ma'am" Kiska said.

"Are you sure?" Naomi raised an eyebrow.

"Totally. Seems like news of the fight reached Norcadia somehow. There is a split in their forces between those that want Gratis and her group out of office, and supporters of our VIP guest" Kiska said.

"So I guess this means we can't turn over our prisoners to the Norcadians" Naomi shook her head. "On the other hand though, we are a neutral ship in this conflict. Maybe we can work out some kind of deal here. Have defence systems at increased readiness" she ordered. "Once we are close to the Norcadian system, broadcast our ID in the clear and say we have a number of prisoners aboard whom we wish to disembark"

"But that will give away our location" said Kiska.

"I know, but it is a civil war. By definition, it is a matter for the Norcadians to settle. By squawking our ID in the clear, it'll show we're not to be messed with at all"

"You hope, Captain" Kiska replied.

"We'll just slide into orbit, drop most of our guests off and then resume our mission" Naomi said. But then she looked at the viewer which was showing the stars streaking past the ship. "Still… you may be right all the same. Have the forward centre phaser bank charged. Time to Norcadia, Helm?"

"Two hours and fourteen minutes" replied Lost.

"Very well" Naomi said. "I'll be in my ready room. Maintain course and speed. Contact me when we are five minutes from entering the Norcadian system" and Naomi went to her ready room to work on something or another.

"Steady as she goes, Helm"

"Aye" Lost replied. "Course is 281 by 32. Speed is Warp 6.2. Holding steady on that" she added.

# # # # #

"Bridge to captain"

"_Captain here_"

"We are approaching the Norcadian system" Kiska said.

"_Very good. I'll be there in a minute_" and seconds later, Naomi strode out and took the bridge. "What do sensors tell us?" she asked.

"I'm reading multiple vessels fighting all over the local area" Kiska said.

"What about our route?" asked Naomi.

"Not doing much there at all" said the Bajoran after a moment of adjusting her panel. "Assuming that their sensor systems are the same as on the flagship we engaged earlier, I'd say we would pass well clear of them. Until they hear our ID calling out and decide to come and attack us" she added.

"It's the best I can do under the circumstances" Naomi said. "Oh well… drop out of warp"

"Aye, Captain" Lost said, and worked her board like a piano player.

"Come left to 275 by 9 – ahead one half impulse power"

"Understood"

"Lomar, send out our ID and announce our intentions" Naomi ordered, then pressed a button on her panel. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. We are entering a potentially hostile zone, and we do not know which side is the least aggressive. Until our prisoners have been transferred to Norcadian custody and we've left the combat zone, I want you all to maintain Yellow Alert. That is all"

"Message is broadcasting on all Norcadian channels" Kiska said. _Icheb_ kept a steady pace as it moved towards Norcadia Prime. "Vessel approaching off the port beam" she said after a while.

"Is she armed?" Naomi asked.

"Not picking up weapons being powered up" Kiska said. "We are being scanned" she added.

"Raise shields and paint a target lock on them for a few seconds" Naomi said. "Just let them know we're not to be messed with" a couple of minutes later, and the Alpha shift arrived on the bridge to take over. Their companion kept pace with them before turning and moving off.

"I am picking up faint sensor echoes that might be a battle in progress" Mezoti said, manning the sensor station.

"We can not get involved" Naomi reminded her. "Keep an eye on them all the same…"

"Actually, it is more of a slaughter" Mezoti amended. "I am picking up two heavy cruisers firing on an unarmed civilian vessel. She is badly damaged and won't last long"

"This is not our fight" said the tactical officer. "If we step in to defend that vessel, we'll be taking sides in a war that is not even in our own quadrant" he added.

"The transport's impulse drive has been disabled. The vessel is dead in the water" a heavy air came down on the bridge as more details came in. "They have a hull breach and are venting into space. The transport is sending out a distress call"

"And that is what I have been waiting for" Naomi said. "Red Alert! Helm plot an intercept course and engage at Warp 1" and the ship leapt into action once more.

"_Red Alert! Red Alert! All hands, man your Battlestations. Man your Battlestations, Man your Battlestations, All hands – Red Alert!_" the computer intoned.

"Dropping out of warp in 3, 2, 1 and … now" and the _Icheb_ appeared like an angel of darkness out of the ether.

"All decks report cleared for action" Azan said.

"Very good" said Naomi. "Open a channel"

"Open" said Rebi.

"This is the _USS Icheb_ to attacking Norcadian vessels. You are ordered to cease your attack at once, or we will open fire upon you" Naomi spoke clearly, but her hands shook like jelly.

"They are breaking off contact" Mezoti said. "Turning and running away" she added.

"Keep an eye on them please, Mez. All hands, this is the Captain. Stand down from Red Alert. Sickbay, prepare to receive incoming heavy casualties"

"_Understood_" came the reply from Sickbay.

"Deploy damage control parties to the transport. Send over medical teams as well" Mezoti said.

"Does she have communications?" asked Naomi.

"Just about" said Rebi.

"Patch me in" Naomi waited for the cue. "Norcadian transport. This is the _USS Icheb_, a Federation starship. We heard your distress call and have come to render aid and assistance. We are deploying medical and engineering teams to your ship in a few moments. The most seriously wounded we'll beam to our ship for treatment. Do you read me, over?"

"_We read you_, Icheb" said a voice. "_Thank you for coming out of your way to help us. We are an unarmed transport carrying civilians away from the fighting, but we got intercepted by two heavy cruisers_"

"Don't you worry about any others coming to finish the job, transport. We're going to stay here until you are fit for transit"

"_Thank you_, Icheb_. We'll give your people every bit of help they need. Transport out_"

"Tactical, maintain weapons readiness. Science station, keep scanning with active sensors for any muggers in the park" Naomi ordered.

"Naomi, I just ran a sensor scan over her. She was about two beam hits away from disintegrating" Azan said.

"I don't think we'll have enough medical personnel to treat everyone" Rebi said, looking at a report that flashed up on his console. "The whole ship's crammed like a hen full of eggs" he said.

"Security, this is the Captain. Send an armed team to cargo Bays Two and Three"

"_Acknowledged_"

"What are you thinking of?" asked Mezoti.

"I'm thinking that we have a lot of people in need of redemption" Naomi replied. "I want you to pick out all of the medical people we took aboard and have them help in the wounded"

# # # # #

"Captain's Log, Supplemental. Despite wanting to remain on station to aid in the repairs of the transport we rendered aid to, I have decided to proceed to Norcadia Prime and turn over our prisoners for trial by the local authorities. I have left behind three of our shuttles to act as a piquet for the transport until we are able to return. Long range scans of the adjoining systems indicate faint traces of recent federation designed warp cores being used. Once we have completed our tasks in the Norcadian system, we shall continue our primary mission"

"Captain, approaching orbit" Lost said.

"Very well" Naomi looked up at the viewer which showed the rotating planet. "Assume a standard orbit. Hail the planet"

"Standard orbit, Aye"

"Channel open" Azan said. "We are getting a reply"

"_You will return Chancellor Gratis to us at once, or we will open fire on you until you agree to our terms_"

"This is Captain Naomi Wildman of the starship _Icheb_. Gratis is wanted by our peoples for ordered a mass murder and attacking federation starships. She will remain in our custody for trial by our selves. As a peace offering, I am returning the others to you for whatever punishment you deem them worthy of. Any attempt to remove them will be met with equal fo…"

"We're being targeted by ground based defence cannons" Azan said.

"Anything that can hurt us?" Naomi asked.

"We'd get some of the hull melted through" Azan replied. "I am reading some kind of torpedo system being targeted on us" he added.

"Start jamming their targeting sensors" Naomi ordered. "Arm phasers and prepare to fire on anything that threatens this vessel"

"Naomi…?" Rebi pointed at the screen which was displaying a massive punch up between two large groups of Norcadians. As the bridge crew watched with amazement, the government was overthrown and an acting one put into place.

"_I am Skolpa_" said a male that bore a likeness to the late Commander Chakotay. "_We are standing down our weapons. We are only a small population in terms of things, captain. Please do not leave us defenceless_"

"Very well" Naomi agreed. "Be advised though, that we reserve the option to strike and eliminate any weapon system that attempts to attack us. Now that that is settled, we have things to discuss about prisoners"

# # # # #

Gratis was remanded to the custody of the Norcadians until _Icheb_ could return after the simple task of defeating the Borg Collective. The vessel dropped off the prisoners, went back to the transport to collect the shuttles and then shepherded the damaged vessel back to an orbital repair complex. To somebody watching the unlikely pair, it was like Giant Bradford attempting to have sex with Tom Thumb. _Icheb_ simply dwarfed the transport in size.

"Contact Norcadian orbital control" Naomi ordered. "Let them know that we're going off"

"Aye, Captain" Mezoti said. "Control has cleared us"

"Attention all hands: rig for departure" Rebi called over the intercom. "All decks report they are rigged for departure, Captain" he informed his friend.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Let us get under weigh. Stand by Transwarp drive. Raise deflector shields, and take us into the atmosphere. Not too far, mind you, but just enough to make our shields glow" and the bridge crew understood what Naomi was doing. She wanted to go to Transwarp from a standing start, but to do so in atmosphere which would make them seem like a fireball in the night sky.

"Transwarp drive is standing by on your command" Azan said.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Helm, engage the drive" and the vessel went off to continue its mission.


	4. A War Approaches

**A War Approaches**

"What have we done now?" she asked.

"We're just getting the results of our scans now, Captain" Mezoti replied to Naomi's question. "It will take me some time to look them over. I think we might have our first piece to recover though" she added.

"What do you mean?" asked Azan.

"I detected Higgs-Boson particles" Mezoti said. "As you know, they have a very short half life, and they can only be produced either in a special lab or by a starship's deflector dish. Given what we know of Delta Quadrant technology, I do not think it likely that any race could produce such particles without outside help or hardware" Mezoti tapped the large screen in the ready room which was showing the seventh planet in the system they had stopped in. "The only problem is that we can't just beam down and pick it up. Sensors indicate the deflector dish is underground in the middle of a Pre-Warp society"

"That would be a problem" said Rebi.

"Can we not get it in disguise?" asked Naomi.

"We'd stick out like sore thumbs" Mezoti shook her head. "And we might encounter trouble if we are asked a question we don't know anything about. They appear to be a farming community, and a highly developed one if my scans are correct"

"Not as if we carry any farm…" Naomi stopped and smiled.

"What?" asked Azan.

"We just happen to have a farming expert onboard. Naomi to Saghi"

"_Saghi here_"

"We might need you to go on an away mission. Can you come to my ready room please?" Naomi requested.

"_Is it urgent?_" Saghi asked.

"Not really" Naomi replied. "Have I caught you at a bad time?" she asked her friend.

"_I was just about to start prayers with Lomar. Can I come and see you in about two hours?_" Saghi asked.

"Oh sure…" Naomi assured her. "Oh, and add an apology from me while you talk to the prophets"

"_I thought you didn't believe in them_"

"Never hurts to cover all your bases. Naomi, out"

"I shall make a start on our sensor readings" Mezoti said.

"I shall take a look at their orbital platforms" Azan said. "If we have to put people on the ground, then we don't want to be picked up by whatever they have set up around their planet"

"See if they have any lunar bases set up" Naomi ordered. "If not, then we'll hide around the dark side of the closest moon. Send down an investigative team by shuttle" she said.

"We would be detected the moment we were above the surface" Rebi said. "I suggest removing the cloaking device from the ship and installing it on one of the shuttles. If we did that, we could send down the team and have the shuttle remain hidden in some uninhabitable location" and his plan seemed to make sense.

"Very well. We shall meet again in two hours. Dismiss" and Naomi let the rest of the senior staff go before following her friends to her shared quarters to watch an old earth film.

# # # # #

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Saghi asked as she came inside the Ready Room.

"_Saghi…_" Naomi said, waving the woman to a seat. "We've got a problem, and I hope you can help me out with it"

"Whatever I can do to help…" said Saghi, sitting down and accepting the Bajoran tea.

"We've located a deflector dish" Naomi said. "The problem is that it is underground in the middle of a farming community. You are the only person on the ship that knows about farming as a way of living. I know about it of course, but I need to remain on the ship"

"You don't want me to advise people – do you?" Saghi asked, and Naomi shook her head.

"Because you are a civilian, I can not ask you to do this. If you refuse, there'll be no problems about it" Naomi assured her.

"I'll do it"

"Thank you" said Naomi. "I guess we better get you a briefing sorted out" and she called for the senior staff to report to the Briefing Room.

"Saghi has agreed to help us with the mission, so I will start the briefing" Mezoti said. "Limetka II is the planet the particles have been found in. It is possible that the Borg hid it there. It is also possible that they are giving us a trail of breadcrumbs to follow all the way into an ambush"

"What about the inhabitants?" asked Azan.

"They look very much like Bajorans" Mezoti said. "Saghi should be able to fit in with very little trouble at all. We listened to enough of their communication channels, news and spacecraft comms to learn the language, and we've added it to the universal translator"

"You say that they are farmers?" Saghi asked, and Mezoti nodded. "What do you actually know of that? Are they having a good year of growing things? Is it a poor year? Do they sell at a market, or by some kind of other system?"

"That will be in a briefing I have prepared for you to read at your leisure" Mezoti said. "We've replicated you enough clothing for two weeks, the correct documents and monetary funding. Where we are dropping you off is considered to be a kind of holiday resort on the planet. Knowing this, Azan hacked into one of their computers and then booked you into a hotel"

"Impressive work" said Saghi.

"I was bored" Azan replied.

"We're going to outfit you with a tricorder, comm system and a phaser with the re-charger as well" Naomi said. "You shouldn't have to use the phaser, but I don't want to take any chances. I've already lost Icheb, and I am not about to add to the tally of lost friends just yet" the Captain added.

"The tricorder will only hold so much data at a time" said Saghi. "How will I get this data to you in one piece?" she asked.

"Good point" Naomi admitted. "Can we get her a portable computer?" she asked the senior staff.

"I can make one small enough for the task at hand. It would be almost identical to an old Earth device known as a laptop" Rebi said. "The tricorder would download to that for better storage. I have a suggestion about the method of getting it from the planet to us" he added.

"How?" asked the tactical officer.

"When we check in at given times, Saghi could transmit the data from the computer using the communication device" Rebi said.

"Something like Section 31 used to do?" asked his twin.

"But as an encrypted data burst" the tactical officer said.

"Just so" Naomi said. "We'll hide behind the moon most of the day, and only come out during transmission times to avoid detection. The only problem that I see is the security forces they have. It seems that they occasionally detain people for questioning. Now you might not be picked up, but if anybody discovers who and what you really are, they might come a calling"

"I can hold them off with a phaser" Saghi smiled. "I rated pretty high on the phaser range on the way here" but Mezoti shook her head.

"That was just hitting moving targets in a set pattern" she said. "This time you'll be up against targets that can think for themselves and shoot back"

"You will go in the morning" Naomi said. "I want you to spend a couple of hours on some of the Academy training simulations"

"I really shouldn't have to use it…" Saghi began.

"That was me _telling_ you, Saghi. That was not me _asking_ you" Naomi said. Saghi knew it was very close to it being the first time her friend had ever given her an order, and so she treated it with the right amount of respect.

"Very well" she gave a short nod.

"Brex" Naomi turned to her Chief Engineer.

"Captain"

"Status of the shuttle?"

"The cloaking device will be installed within the hour, Captain" Brex said. "It will be ready to transport the team and Miss Saghi to Limetka II" he added. As the shuttle was going that way to drop Saghi off, Naomi saw no reason why it couldn't carry a small away team to collect soil samples and other things needed for a planetary survey. They had two weeks to kill after all, and they could also use the time to map the rest of the system for Starfleet Cartography. It was one of the secondary missions Starfleet Command had given to Naomi in her orders. They would have sent out another ship in the _Icheb_'s place, but the Transwarp drive recovered from the Borg cube all thoe years ago would not work on any other ship except either _Voyager_ or _Icheb_. Nobody could detirmine why this was, but at least the number of scans and tests performed on it over the years allowed scientists to go back and revise the old transwarp experiments made on the _Excelsior_ back in the 2280s. There was talkof fitting the last half of the _Voyager_ class of ships with the drives as new, and retro fit them into the earlier ones when they came up for overhaul. _Icheb_ was not getting that as she already had one installed, and _Voyager_ was still in her role as test bed ship for the rest of her class.

"I assume that you have a good pilot standing by?" Naomi asked Kiska.

"One of my very best" Kiska assured her. "And, i'll have a shuttle on standby in case the 'Stealth' shuttle is off the grid for some reason or other"

"You will have only a few hours to get as many samples as possible before daylight" said Mezoti. "Once the team has left, You will be out of contact with us until one of the comm passes"

"Understood" Saghi said in reply.

"We shall meet again at 08:45 tomorrow" Naomi said. "Dismissed" and they filed out and returned to thier duty stations.

"Nai...?" Mezoti reained behind.

"Mmm?"

"Are you okay?" her wife asked.

"No, Mez... I am not alright. The last time I sent a friend out before me, he never made it back home" Naomi put her head back and closed her eyes. "The whole business is smacking of a wild goose chase. Why put a piece of high value technogy on a planet that has no use for it? This is not the typical Borg behaviour we know of. I jut have the feeling that we are being played around with"

"By the Borg?" asked Mezoti.

"By the Borg" Naomi confirmed. "Why did they vanish for nearly thirty years? Why pick now to reappear? If this is the start of an invasion, then we've got a hell of a job to repel them. We lost thirty nine ships at Wolf 359, and nearly the same number at the Battle of Sector 001. With all the losses we took during the civil war, we're not going to have anything of value to send up against them" she got upand walked to the door. "I need a drink" she said, and the pair of them went to their quarters for a drink.

# # # # #

"Computer, direct the lateral sensors array to port on the following co-ordinates" ordered the night shift science officer.

'_Scanning now_' it replied.

"Something the matter?" asked Azan.

"Just picking up a subspace disturbance on the sensors, Commander" the science officer said. "I picked this up before, but it was just a subspace eddy blowing out. Standing orders require me to scan the location"

"I am well aware of those orders, Lieutenant, because I recommended them" Azan smiled, before going back to the book that he was reading.

"Permission to leave the bridge - temporarily?" asked the Operations officer.

"Granted, Ensign" Azan said.

"Thank you, Sir. Is there anything I can get you?" she asked.

"Get me a hot chocolate please" said Azan.

"Make it two" said the Science officer.

"I'll stop by the mess hall on my way back" and the young officer stepped into a turboift and left the bridge.

"Its very quiet tonight" said the Science officer - still waiting for the results of the sensor scan to come on the screen.

"Why i like these shifts" Azan said. "Tell me something, Lieutenant, do you like old Earth music?"

"Very much, Sir" was the confused reply.

"Mmm... Computer, play a random selection of songs from my personal music files. Start off by playing the song 'Stand My Ground'. Play at a background level"

'_Acknowledged_' the Computer replied. Most ship Captain's allowed chatting on the bridge but not much else. Naomi, however, permitted reading of books during the night shift, the playing of quiet music or using the main viewscreen to play chess - so long as they kept an eye on the readouts.

"That's better!" exclaimed the Science officer. "Getting the sensor scans now. Definitely subspace disturbance of epic proportions. Readings are almost off the scales… Reading a vessel of some kind heading this way. I can not get a clear reading on her at this time"

"Heading?" Azan put down his book.

"Heading is 312 mark 46" the science officer replied.

"How big is she?" Azan asked. "One from the planet?"

"Too big to be one of theirs" she said, glancing at Azan.

"Is it Norcadian?" he asked.

"I can't tell. Sensors still having a little trouble in picking her up. If it is from Norcadia, then they looped round the system before coming in. And I also picked up subspace distortion around the same time as the vessel came into range. I don't remember having read anything about the Norcadians having ships capable of making distortions that large" the officer said.

"Can they detect us from their range?" Azan asked.

"I don't think so" came the reply. "I am only picking it up through the probe relay anyway" she referred to the probe deployed to send back sensor details as _Icheb_ hid around the back of the moon.

"Need a classification on that contact" said Azan. "Helm, take us out of the moon's shadow, but keep us behind it at all times. Orientate the ship so the most sensor pallets can be used at once"

"Aye, Commander"

"Captain's Log, Supplemental. Commander Azan recording. Due to an unidentifiable contact on sensors, I have ordered that the ship pull back from the moon of Limetka II so we can use the main sensors" Azan recorded the little movement into the log.

"Bringing main sensors to full power" said the Science officer. The Operations officer returned with three mugs of hot chocolate and a tea for the helmsman. "Cheers" and started sipping it – only to have her eyes widen with shock and horror. "Computer, Red Alert! All hands to Battlestations. Captain Wildman, please report to the Bridge. All hands to Battlestations, this is not a drill. Red Alert!" and the ship brought itself to full fighting ability as the weapons were powered, shields charged and alarms went off all over the ship.

"What?" asked Azan, tucking the book under the Captain's chair. "What is it?" and the Science officer pointed at the main viewer. "Oh fucking hell…" he said.

#-#-#

"… and I'm going to raid the galley" said Mezoti.

"Stealing food from your shipmates?" Naomi eyed her wife.

"Its Minka Pie. I haven't had any real stuff for nearly thirty years!" Mezoti laughed.

"Well I am going to stop by Sickbay and get this seen to" Naomi said, indicating the cut on her shin.

"Come by the Mes…" mezoti was cut off by the sound of sirens going off all over the long corridor.

"_Red Alert! All hands to Battlestations. Captain Wildman, please report to the Bridge. All hands to Battlestations, this is not a drill. Red Alert!_" the voice of the night shift Science officer came over the intraship.

"Captain to bridge. What's the story?"

"_We've picked up a contact on long range sensors. Naomi, it's the Borg_" Azan said. Naomi and Mezoti stared at each other in complete dumbfoundness, before spinning round and belting up the corridor to a turbolift.

"Bridge!" Naomi called. "Emergency Priority!"

#-#-#

The pair ran out onto a busy bridge. Reports came in from all over the ship, and Naomi and Mzoti took thier places on the bridge.

"Report!" Naomi called.

"Borg cube on course 312 mark 46" Azan said. "CBDR. We think she might have detected our exit from transwarp and come to investigate"

"Has she detected us yet?" asked Naomi.

"Not yet" said Mezoti. She had taken in all the information that she could from the displays on her console readouts.

"Looks like shore leave is cancelled" Naomi muttered. "Alright then... Put us on a course to intercept the Cube outside the system. Rebi, stand by to activate cloaking device"

"Cloaking device?" Rebi blinked.

"If we can lure the cube away, we might still be able to get that deflector dish" Naomi said. "Tactical, lock forwar phaser arrays on the Cube. Stand By to fire photon torpedoes"

"Aye, Captain"

"All decks report that they are cleared for action" Azan said.

"All stations manned and ready" his twin put in.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Hail the Cube" she ordered.

"_We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ship. We will add your biological and technological disticitvness to our own. You will adapt to service us. Your resistance is futile_"

"This Naomi Wildman of the starship _USS Icheb_. Lower _your_ shields and surrender _your_ ship. _I_ will add your biological and technological disticntiveness to my own. _You_ will adapt to service _us_. _Your_ resistance is futile" then Naomi looked around at the stunned bridge crew. "Too much?" she asked them.

"Borg Cube has armed her weapons. We are being targeted"

"Then, by all means, open fire" Naomi gave the order. The ship fired a full spread of torpedoes from all of the launchers, followed by precision phaser strikes. The Cube replied by firing torpedoes and disrupters at them. "Begin evasive pattern India Tango Sierra"

"Running sequence now, Captain"

"This is unlike any other Borg Cube on record" said Mezoti. "It has been given additional armour and hull plating around the impulse manifolds. I am reading a few new items of interest as well"

"Such as?" Naomi asked, gripping her chair arms as the ship rotated to port and fired ventral phasers.

"Dilithium enhanced phasers for one thing" said Mezoti.

"You what...?" Rebi was stunned.

"You heard me"

"Damn me" Azan said.

"I remember about those" said Naomi.

"We tried to play around with those about ten years ago" said Azan. "We took a leaf out of the old Orion pirates' book and came up with a prototype"

"We thought about adding it to the _Picard_ class of ships" Rebi said.

"So what happened?" asked Naomi.

"After about six or seven phaser bursts, the entire crystal structure broke down. We've never been able to figure out the methods that the pirates used. It seems that the Borg have developed a way"

"Or stolen it" said the Tactical officer.

"We need an advantage" said Naomi. "Helm, hard to port. Tactical, fire full spread of torpedoes from the aft launcher. Azan, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the transwarp drive cause a sensor overload?"

"When a fissure is opened" Azan said. "Why do you ask?"

"The Borg are the only ones capable of transwarp – apart from this ship. They don't need sensors that are not blacked out by a drive aperture opening. Helm, bring us about and put us on a course for Tintara" Naomi suddenly came up with an idea. "Bridge to Engineering"

"_Engineering_"

"Chief, stand by to cut power to everything except passive sensors, thrusters, life support and the cloaking device"

"_Understood. Engineering out_"

"Stand by to activate the transwarp drive" Naomi ordered.

"We will not be able to achieve transwarp" Rebi said.

"That's because we ain't leaving here" Naomi said.

"I get it" Mezoti said. "This is like shining a light into somebody's eyes whilst being in darkness. You blind them for several moments"

"Right!" Naomi said. "And I bet they will head off to transwarp" she went on. "Either that or look for us"

"Shields down to 89%" reported Tactical.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Stand by on cloaking device. Helm, transfer thrusters control to Commander Rebi" she ordered.

"Captain?"

"He is a lot faster at calculating response times" Naomi said.

"Aye, Captain. Thrusters transferred to Commander Rebi's station"

"Tactical, throw whatever you have in the aft launchers at the Cube"

"Aye, captain. Torpedoes are away" and they saw them fly out of _Icheb_ and strike the Cube's hull.

"Activate the drive!" Naomi ordered. The transwarp aperture opened up with the normal swirling green and white flux they knew well. "Engage the cloak. Rebi, 500 Metres down now!. Engineering – _CUT POWER NOW_" and the ship darkened as Rebi dived the vessel out of the path of the Cube.

"Stand down weapons" Mezoti said. "All stop"

"All stop"

"Weapons are powered down"

"Status of the Cube?" Naomi asked, breathing heavily from the excitement.

"I am not reading it on passive sensors" Mezoti said.

"Have they gone?" asked the Operations officer.

"I think so, but we can not be too certain of that" Naomi said. "We'll stay at this power level until further notice" she ordered. "Helm, take us back towards Limetka II – thrusters only"

"That will take over a day to do" said the Helm.

"Nonetheless, my order stands" Naomi said. "Tactical, I want you to take a team and arm a set of Quantum Torpedoes manually. If the Borg are here, and using new types of sensory equipment, I don't want them to pick up them being armed using the automatic system"

"Aye, Captain"

"We will maintain silent running until further notice. I want Yellow Alert until we are behind the moon again. Full reports made to the bridge within two hours please. Commander Azan has the bridge" Naomi got up and left the bridge for her quarters with Mezoti in tow.

# # # # #

Despite taking a number of powerful hits, _Icheb_ came out of the engagement with no damage at all. Naomi didn't know if this was due to some good piloting and shooting, or if the Borg were trying to come up with a method of attack. So far, they had only seen Quantums used at Sector 001. _Voyager_ had never carried them on her trip back to the Alpha Quadrant, and Naomi hoped that the Borg would not have come up with any defence for them. When she added up the differing torpedo types and the other new weapons that the ship carried, Naomi could only come up with a hell of a surprise for the Borg. The shuttle placed the Away Team and Saghi on the surface of the planet, and leaving her behind several hours later. They got a daily message every day for fourteen days, but there was no message on the last day which concerned many of the crew.

"_Captain, report to the Bridge please_"

"This is the Captain" Naomi said.

"_Captain, I think I know why Miss Saghi has not called in_" said Kiska.

"Why?" asked Naomi.

"_Sensors detected a small tremor roughly in the same location as the deflector dish. I believe she may have been caught up in it_"

"Have you picked up anything about her on the communication circuits?" asked Naomi.

"_Just one that had something about a rescued person having some abnormal organ readings_" Kiska said.

"That'll be her" said Mezoti.

"Assemble the senior staff in the briefing room yesterday" Naomi said, then she closed the link and headed out of the mess hall.

#

"WHAT?" the tactical officer said with surprise.

"You heard me" said Naomi. "We're going to send down Lomar here and have her find out what part of the hospital she is in. She'll try to put a transponder on her body, then we beam her up" Naomi's plan was to take the injured Bajoran right from under the very noses of the hospital staff"

"I'll be on the surface for less then half an hour" Kiska said.

"At least we have the ability to beam out the deflector dish" Azan said.

"I am more worried if the Borg show up" the tactical officer said.

"If they do, then we'll simply beam everyone and everything up at once, blow the Borg back to their component pieces and then finish our mission" said Naomi. "From now on, I want a Red Alert"

"That will put stress upon the crew"

"Well I'll recommend their transfer to a transport ship. There is a lot less stress there…" Naomi shared a smile with her friends. "Kiska, off you go"

"Aye, Captain. I'll be back with Saghi before you can pray to the Emissary" and with that, she got up and headed to the transporter room at a run.

#

"Transporter activated, Captain" said the Operations officer.

"Picking up a subspace disturbance on the edge of sensors" said Mezoti. "It's the Borg"

"Helm, bring us about and prepare for combat manourvres" Naomi ordered. "All hands, this is the Captain. We are shortly going into battle with the Borg. I want your best today. When we win, I'm buying the first round at the next shore leave"

"All stations report manned and ready" Azan said.

"All decks report cleared for action" his twin said in the now standard manner they had.

"Better tell me what we have here, Mez" Naomi said, looking at the screen as the _Icheb_ swung round to face the Borg.

"I am reading one vess… make that _two_ vessels bearing 189 mark 221. One appears to be a scout or Interceptor of some kind, and the other is another one of those armoured Cubes" Mezoti said. "The Cube is moving to engage us. The Interceptor is holding back!" she added with some surprise.

"That's never happened in our past engagements" Naomi said.

"Unless the Interceptor is carrying the Queen" said Rebi.

"Thanks for that bit of brightness" Naomi muttered. "Hail them, and warn them off from this planet. When they don't reply, give them a phaser over the bows. When they ignore that, open fire on them" Naomi said.

"Target this section first of all" Mezoti said. "My analysis of our brief encounter with the first armoured Cube showed this to contain external sensors"

"And they need less shielding around them to get them to work" Naomi realised at once what her wife was talking about. "Target the sensors and rip them up" she ordered. "I bet the Borg can't fire whilst blind as bats. Mez, find me where that escape Sphere is located"

"Why?"

"Well I was thinking that the Borg might not have changed their encryption keys since we last met"

"You want me to hack a Borg Sphere?" asked Azan.

"I think she does" said Rebi.

"I picked a hell of a day to quit coffee for forty days" Azan grumbled, and set to work at once.

"Helm, evasive pattern Alpha India Charlie 2" Naomi ordered. "Stand by to bring the disrupters online… Lets see how they like a taste of their own medicine"

#

"Fine" Q said.

"I will go and pay that debt" said Q.

"You do owe Captain Janeway" said Q.

"And I will pay that off by helping the ever so young Naomi Wildman" Q said, then blinked out of the continuum.

#

"Damage report!" Naomi cried. Smoke floated over the bridge from a few of the overloaded consoles.

"Shields are down to 23%. Phaser banks 2 and 3 are offline. We've lost power to deck 5 through 12" Azan said.

"Attempting to re-route power through the secondary EPS grid" Rebi said. The ship shook under the heavy assault it was taking from the five Borg Cubes. The first had been joined by four others shortly after _Icheb_ had taken out the Interceptor.

"We've exhausted our supply of photon torpedoes" said the tactical officer. "Quantum torpedoes are down to fifty"

"Forget the shields we have up" said Naomi. "Take them offline and raise the secondary shields. Dump the power we save into the phasers" she ordered.

"Shields up!" cried tactical.

"Bet they didn't expect that!" Mezoti said brightly.

"Target every last fire cracker on these co-ordinates" said Naomi. "Helm, bring us about to 090 mark 000. Ahead full impulse"

"That will take us directly at the Cube"

"I know. Please carry out my orders" she said.

"You are going to use their Cubes weak manoeuvrability and have the trailing Cubes fire into their own side" Mezoti said.

"I bet Borg ships are not shielded against Borg ships" Naomi said. "I want a constant firing until four seconds before impact. Helm, be ready to rotate the ship to either side and loop around. Once we've done that, we should have the unprotected side facing us"

"Impact in fifteen seconds"

"Standby to fire torpedoes from the Aft launcher" Mezoti said.

"Borg derived torpedoes loaded" tactical said. _Icheb_ got closer and closer to one of the Cubes, and Naomi was strangely at ease with the situation. She was an experienced starship commander, and had been in more battles then most Captains ever saw.

"The hardest part of playing chicken is knowing when to flinch" Naomi said. "And…._NOW_!" and the ship rotated to starboard to begin a long loop around. The torpedoes flung themselves out from the launcher, but they ended up being surplus to requirements. The two Cubes rammed each other at full impulse – ripping themselves to shreds. The shockwave from the explosions tossed the ship and its crew around like peas in a pod. The remaining three Cubes were thrown a couple of hundred kilometres like a giant child's hand throwing a toy car away.

"Someone failed their driving test" Naomi groaned as she clawed her way over the deck and back to her seat. "Report!"

"Checking all systems now, Naomi" Azan said.

"Sickbay reports four serious, thirteen mild and eleven minor injuries" Rebi said.

"Shields are down to 75%" the tactical officer said. "We've lost all phaser banks. No damage, but they lost the charge in the explosion. Take two minutes to come back to full power"

"The ship, remarkably, is in one piece. We have minor hull buckling on the port nacelle and some thermal damage around the aft torpedo launcher" Azan said, checking his console readouts.

"Status of the Cubes" Naomi asked her wife.

"Scanning… Cube 3 appears to have suffered moderate damage to several sections. Cube 4 is suffering major damage right across the board. I'm reading a build up of power in their main grid. Cube 2 appears to have vanished"

"Self Destruct?"

"I am uncertain" Mezoti said. "It could be that, or it could be attempting a jump to Warp or Transwarp"

"Well it has run out of luck" Naomi said. "Helm, bring us about for a pass on our port side. Tactical, I want port side cannons manned and ready"

"What about Cube 3?" asked Rebi.

"Our card is full. It'll have to wait until the next song" Naomi smiled briefly. "And engage" and _Icheb_ raced past the badly damaged Cube and showed off its secret weapon. Ships of the _Voyager_ class were equipped with movable phaser cannons mounted port and starboard. A team of three worked each cannon which were used in the same method as old Earth style Anti-Aircraft guns. When used by the computer, the cannons could easily shoot down any incoming missiles. When in manual mode, as Naomi wanted them, the cannons could be used for spraying a target in a random pattern. _Icheb_'s cannon were actually those from _Defiant_ class ships wrecked during the civil war.

"Oh crap" Mezoti said as the Cube blew up in a massive explosion of fire and debris. "I'm reading a dozen Cubes heading…" she stopped speaking.

"Mezoti?" she looked round to see her wife, the twins and the rest of the bridge crew frozen in place. "Bridge to Engineering. Bridge to Sickbay. To anybody that can hear me, this is the Captain. Report!" but there was no reply.

"I have frozen them" a voice that Naomi had heard long ago caused her to stand up and face the rear consoles. He was wearing the latest version of the Starfleet uniform of a Captain.

"Q!" she hissed. "Thirty years since we last saw your kind, and you pick now to make an appearance. This is not the right time"

"Oh, but it is" Q said, blinking from one side of the railing to the other. "As much as it pains me to say this, I owe Captain Janeway a debt" he said.

"Bit late for that" Naomi said. "She's dead"

"I know" the being said. Naomi thought she saw a look of regret pass over Q's features. "As I have said, Miss Wildman, I owe Captain Janeway a debt. As the last officer of _Voyager_, the Continuum has decreed that you now have that debt"

"And how will you repay this debt?" asked Naomi.

"By granting you three wishes" Q said with a gleeful expression.

"Like the Genie from Aladdin" Naomi snorted.

"Yes…" Q said. "Now he was not such a bad human"

"You mean…"

"The story is real" Q said with a human like chuckle, "Because I was the Genie. I got bored for a while so decided to amuse myself" his tone and expression turned serious. He looked around the motionless bridge as if expecting to have other Q appear out of the blue. "Take this and read it" he handed her a PADD that Naomi swore was not there moments before. Naomi read the message on the screen, looked at Q sharply who nodded in confirmation.

"Knowing you, there are conditions attached to this debt repayment" Naomi said, sitting down in the Captain's chair.

"There are a few" Q admitted. "It was all I could do to get three choices for you. The other members of the Continuum have often asked why I bother to indulge Humanity. You are a very curious species – for some that is" Q said.

"Oh? How so?"

"You have the battle fury of Klingons, the intelligence of Vulcans, the cunning of Romulans and your own brand of bravery" said Q. "I will warn you on this, _Captain_, you can not ask for anything that saves yourself" Naomi instantly knew what she wanted.

"I want you to send back all of the pieces we're out to look for"

"Done" Q snapped his fingers.

"Second, I want you to send my crew back to Earth. But I want to speak to Mezoti before you do"

"As you wish" and Mezoti was brought into whatever Naomi was in. She took a look at Naomi and then at Q.

"Q?" she whispered as a question. "After all these years… What is it y-" Naomi held up a hand to silence her.

"He is here to repay a debt to Captain Janeway. I don't have a lot of time to explain, so listen up. The Borg have been massing their resources to build Super Cubes. They intend to launch an invasion of the federation and assimilate everyone. The pieces we've been sent to find are decoys to get us away from the Federation. Q has agreed to send all of those pieces back and to send you all home" she said.

"All of us home?" Mezoti said.

"Not all of us, Mez… Not all of us"

"You're not coming back" Mezoti's widened.

"It is the condition that the help was granted" Naomi said, holding her wife's hand tenderly.

"But why not ask for the ship to be sent home?" Mezoti asked.

"I can't do that, Mezoti" Naomi said with regret. "As much as I'd like to finish this with you, the twins, Saghi and the others, I have a duty to protect the men and women under my command"

"But I want to stay with you" Mezoti said, tears running down her eyes.

"I know that, Hon, but this isn't one that I get to come home from" Naomi said, pulling her wife into a tight embrace. "I'll try to get into Transwarp and back home to Earth, but that might not happen. If that's the case, I'll give them one hell of a fight. You have to go back and tell Starfleet that a Borg invasion force is heading there. Q can not help us any more then that. Tell Starfleet to get the _Voyager_ space worthy. As for the _Janeway_, just get her combat effective." and she pressed her lips to Mezoti's and had a passionate kiss. With the wink of an eye, the entire ship's crew was transported back to the Alpha Quadrant.

"What is your third wish?" asked Q.

"There has to be a way to get as far away from the Borg as possible" Naomi mused. "On the other hand, of course, I can not let them get hold of this ship. If I had the time, I'd fry them all…" the idea suddenly came to her. "Q, I want you to repair all of the ship's damage and get everything online"

"Done" Q snapped his fingers and all of the damage righted itself and the ship became fully operational again. "I never said this to Jean-Luc before, but good luck, Captain Wildman" and held out his hand which Naomi shook and then the being vanished in a burst of light.

"Lets get this show on the road" Naomi said. "Computer, divert auxiliary power to the aft shields. Set course 231 mark 010 – full impulse"

"_Acknowledged_" and the _Icheb_ swung around and headed towards the local sun. The Cubes followed it as they continued to fire upon it.

"Computer, maintain course, but increase speed through to maximum warp"

"_Acknowledged_"

"Targeting… locked on…" Naomi murmured to herself. "Firing" and Borg derived torpedoes came out from the aft launchers and punched a large hole in the hull of the closest Cube. Naomi watched the cubes in one panel, checked ship's status in another and kept an eye on her speed and course in a third. "Computer, on my mark change our trajectory to this from our current one"

"_Acknowledged_" Naomi planned to go back in time by two months and then set off on the long voyage back to the Federation – gaining a two month head start on the Borg invasion. By the time she got back, the other two ships of the _Voyager_ class should be ready to put out to sea. _Icheb_ would require some overhaul and replenishing, but a task force of three of the most powerful starships in Starfleet would be ready to go to the very heart of the Borg – Unimatrix 001. Although the other two ships didn't have transwarp installed, it was possible for them to travel in it so long as _Icheb_ opened the window first. Naomi returned the fire of the Cubes as best as she could, but kept an eye out on _Icheb_'s progress.

"Mark" and the computer swung the ship to a different heading. "Stand by transwarp drive"

"_Transwarp drive can not be activated due to safety regulations_"

"Understood" Naomi said. "Override by Captain's order. Enter it into the log"

"_Transwarp drive online. Override entered into ship's log_"

"Steady… steady… steady… activate!" but as she said that the science station started blaring caution alarms. Naomi had no time to find out what the problem was before the ship was hit by a massive solar flare and knocked badly off course. She was flung from the rear consoles over the railings and into the helm console, knocking her out cold.


	5. Borg Bashing Begins

**Borg Bashing Begins **

"Damn it and blast" Naomi said with a groan. "Somebody get me the number of that starship" and pulled herself up off the deck. The bridge was a room full of flickering consoles, the overhead lights came on, off and then back on again and nearly every console and display panel was either blank or had an error message. "Computer?" Naomi hazarded a question.

"_Standing By_"

"Status of the ship" Naomi ordered.

"_Warp drive is offline. Transwarp drive is offline. Impulse drive is offline. Shield systems are offline. Weapons systems are offline. Life support at minimal levels. External sensors are offline_"

"Computer, based on the last known piece of good information, what is the ship's current heading?"

"_Unknown. Navigational data has been corrupted_"

"Does anything work on this ship?" Naomi growled.

"_Life support and internal sensors remain operative_" the Computer replied.

"Shaddup" Naomi spat. "I can't be dead, so that is a bonus. The Borg are not attacking, and so that is a bonus as well. Better get to the shuttlebay and use a ship's sensors and…-" Naomi was cut off by a sudden noise from the computer.

"_Intruder alert. Intruder Alert. Intruders have boarded on Decks 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10 and 16_"

"Crap" Naomi said, and went or the drawer under her seat. She kept the weapons made by Seven of Nine there. She pulled out the enhanced phaser and slotted it into her belt before hefting the rifle to her chest and facing the turbolift doors. "Computer, status of intruders on Deck 2"

"_Intruders boarding on Deck 2 have entered turbolift car 13. New Information:- They have travelled to the bridge_" the computer said, and the doors to the starboard aft turbolift opened up and allowed several people to enter.

"Bridge appears to be in one piece" said one of them.

"Computers don't work though" said another - this one female. "If I can't get them to work I'll wipe them back to basics"

"If you want something doing right…" said the first.

"…you have to do it yourself" Naomi said. The three people froze before turning to look at Naomi with her rifle armed and humming with power.

"What the…" said the woman. "Put that gun down now!" she ordered.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the first.

"No…" Naomi said. "Its who the hell are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

"Your ship" snorted the silent third person. "We got on here first - fair and square"

"This is a Federation starship. You do not just come aboard and lay claim to it" Naomi said.

"Wait a minute… you… you must be one of the crew?" asked the first.

"I am Captain Naomi Wildman, Commanding Officer of the _USS Icheb_" Naomi said darkly. This had the effect of the three dropping their jaws in amazement.

"_The_ Naomi Wildman?" asked the woman.

"I presume so" said Naomi.

"We're with Starfleet" the woman said.

"You got _Voyager_ and _Janeway_ off the slips at last?" Naomi asked, lowering the rifle as she spoke.

"Um… not exactly" said the third. "You've got to be prepared for a shock. You were reported missing in action"

"That'll be the twins messing around again…" Naomi smiled.

"For over three hundred years" and the smile froze, selected reverse and went back down the hill of despair.

"Three hundred years? Christ…" Naomi was numb with shock as she struggled to comprehend.

"There was a war… a big one, against the Borg"

"I was there" said Naomi coldly.

"I guess you missed the ending. I hate to break it to you but you lost"

"I picked a hell of a day to give up chocolate for Lent" Naomi said.

"Captain, we've orders to strip this ship of all useable parts and scuttle her" said the first person.

"Over my dead body… Lieutenant" Naomi peered at the rank pins on the man's undershirt collar. "I'll tell you what we will do. I am going to have strong words with your CO for not respecting a superior officer. Then we will start repairing the vessel so I can go back"

"But…"

"That was a direct order, Mister!" Naomi said. "Now then, I want your CO up here on the double"

"Yes, Ma'am" they said in unison.

"_Impulse drive has been restored_"

"Was that you computer?"

"_Negative_"

"Oh, well then… Naomi pressed a button on her chair arm. "Bridge to Engineering. I don't know who you are, but I just want to say well done for getting impulse back online"

"_Who is this?_" asked a voice.

"The Captain"

"_Is that you playing tricks Trax_?" asked the voice.

"No…" said the woman of the group. "We've found ourselves a little hitch. You better come up here Chief"

"_Damn straight_"

"Our Captain is on our way here" said one of the others.

"Very well" Naomi nodded. "Are any of you Bridge rated?" she asked.

"We all are" said the woman.

"In that case, man stations please" Naomi ordered.

"We don't take orders off you" said the third of the group.

"Mr Rifle disagrees" Naomi said dryly. They waited in a standoff before two more officers arrived on the bridge.

"You are not one of my crew" said the leader. Naomi looked to her rank pips and saw she was the Captain.

"No I am not" she replied. "I am Naomi Wildman, Captain of the Federation Starship _Icheb_. You are?"

"I am Fenella, Captain of the Alliance vessel _Herald_"

"Alliance? I thought you said you were with Starfleet?" she glanced at the three.

"There some things we have to tell you" said Fenella. "There was a war - a big one - against the Borg"

"I know. I was there" Naomi said.

"Guess you missed the ending" the engineer said. "You lost. The Federation has been dissolved for over three hundred years. We have an alliance of ships, people and planets that have managed to survive the years of Borg attacks. We were looking for parts to salvage from a previous engagement with the Borg when we detected your vessel appearing out of transwarp. We couldn't read who you were so we boarded in the hopes of getting some useful stuff"

"Captain, I'd like to speak to you in my Ready Room. Engineer, you have the bridge" Naomi walked off the bridge.

"Ma'am…?" the engineer looked at his Captain.

"You heard the woman. The bridge is yours. Begin damage checks of all systems and be ready to tow the ship back with us"

# # # # #

"I can't believe it…" Naomi said, sat on the sofa with a drink in her hand.

"You can check my ship's data banks if you don't believe me" said Fenella.

"No…" Naomi said. "I spent years building ships at Utopia Planetia. I don't remember yours being one I took out for testing. Azan, Rebi are both gone. My wife is dead as well I suppose" tears ran down her face at the thoughts of her loved ones being dead with no hope of seeing them again for a very long time.

"Admiral Wildman fell in the defence of Earth. She lifted off in _Voyager_ and rammed the ship into the Cube at maximum warp. She gave the evacuation transports enough time to get away to the Klingon Empire" Fenella said.

"Admiral?"

"Yes, Ma'am. She was made Captain for several years before promoted to Admiral in charge of defence of Earth. Commanders Azan and Rebi did not report to their ships, and we've assumed that they fell at their duty stations"

"Together to the end"

"Ma'am, I have ordered this ship to be towed back to base with us" but Naomi shook her head.

"_Icheb_ will get us there without any help"

"This vessel has no warp drive, and you have no navigational ability"

"This vessel" Naomi said with a rising anger, "Has not been rendered helpless. She is under power, is under command and is still in commission. We shall set off at impulse power and then continue at Warp as soon as we can. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Captain"

"Now then" Naomi leaned back in her chair, "Tell me what sort of ship you are and what you can give me to help…"

# # # # #

It took four hours for the computer memory banks to be restored from back ups, but all information up to _Icheb_'s arrival was in one piece - more or less. For instance, the sensor logs indicated a giant cheesecake had attacked them with Borg drones, and that all the bathrooms on Deck 9 played Bach when you flushed the toilet.

"Captain on the Bridge" called a voice as Naomi stepped out onto the bridge.

"As you were" she told them. "What seems to be the problem?" Naomi asked, stepping around the railing and standing by Fenella.

"We're having trouble accessing armoury 3" she said. "The door will not open to any of us, and the computer will only accept an authorisation code from one of the senior officers"

"Have you broken the door down yet?" Naomi asked.

"We were just about to" said Fenella. "Thought to inform you first"

"Then don't knock the door down. If you do, the computer will instantly vent that section to vacuum" Naomi warned them.

"Why?"

"Come here" Naomi took Fenella over to one side. "This ship is carrying four high grade Nova Bombs"

"_WHAT_?" Fenella's eyes widened with surprise and the memory of something she had learned long ago. "Quinn? This is Fenella" she said, pressing her comm badge. "Stop your work on the door at once and leave that section as quick as you can"

"I will comply" a voice came back over the link.

"When were you going to tell me about the Nova Bombs?" asked Fenella. "I didn't know you were carrying Nova Bombs"

"_Icheb_ is a _Voyager_ class ship of the line with a wide range of combat capabilities" Naomi said. "These four were designed just for this mission. If we found worlds populated just by the Borg, then we were to launch one into the planet's surface before detonating and destroying the planet. If we came upon a chance, I had orders to use all of the ones I had to destroy the Borg once and for all"

"You mean you have a chance to get rid of the Borg?" Fenella asked. "To stop this from ever happening?"

"Yes" Naomi said. "But I need this ship fully repaired and to go back in time in order to do that"

"Then we have work to do Captain"

"That we do, Captain" Naomi replied.

"We have regained Warp Drive" called an engineer from the back of the bridge.

"That's good" Naomi said. "Alrighty then… All hands stand by to get under weigh" she called. "You there" Naomi pointed, "Can you pilot a vessel?"

"No"

"Then I guess I'll have to pilot this ship myself. Clear the bridge. Anybody who can man a console is welcome to stay" Naomi said.

"I shall get back to my ship" Fenella said.

"Very well" Naomi said. Once the bridge was otherwise cleared, she had a small group of four officers. Three of them were the same three that had first seen Naomi after they had entered the Bridge. "You! You understand tactical systems?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"Then get your arse over there and man Tactical" Naomi watched as the officer rushed to obey her. "You! Man the science station. You! Man the Engineering sub station" she glanced at the remaining person. "What can you do?" she asked.

"Operations, Ma'am"

"Then what are you doing here? Get to your station Mister!" Naomi shook her head before seating herself at the helm. "_Icheb_ here. Has Captain Fenella arrived on her bridge yet?"

"_Just got there now_"

"Then lead the way, Captain" and seconds later both vessels jumped to Warp.

# # # # #

Two days later, and Naomi stood in a viewing gallery overlooking _Icheb_. She had suffered massive thermal damage to the hull, and black marks showed where it had been the worst hit by the solar flare. Hundreds of workers swarmed over her hull to replace damaged parts, and hundreds more swarmed inside the ship. She was going to be given an overhaul and refitted to the specs indicated by schematic from the ship's memory banks. She would also be replenished with more fuel for the journey that Naomi would have to undertake. It would take about three weeks for everything to be ready, and Naomi spent time in quarters loaned to her while work was carried out on the ship. The _Icheb_ was also getting modern impulse engines.

"We've just got word from our scout, Captain" Fenella said, stepping into the room quietly.

"And…?"

"Sector 001's sun looks as if it will emit flares of the type needed in four months"

"Then I'll do the trip myself" replied Naomi. "Four months doesn't seem all that long after what I have been through. All those years with just my friends for company on _Voyager_…"

"_Alert! Alert! All personnel report to Alert Stations!_"

"This is Captain Fenella. What is going on?"

"_We just picked up a pair of Cubes closing on our position_" said a sensor room tech.

"We've no ships to defend the base"

"Yes we do" Naomi replied. "This is Captain Wildman. Beam myself and Captain Fenella to _Icheb_'s bridge" and seconds later they stood on the half disassembled bridge. "Computer, open a shipwide channel. Attention all hands, this is the Captain. All work crews evacuate the ship at once. Any ship qualified persons in Engineering will remain aboard. That is all. Computer, Red Alert, power all weapons. Stand by to raise shields"

"Are you seriously going to take on two Cubes with a half completed ship?" Fenella asked.

"I've taken our Jem'Hadar battleships in _Voyager_ with not much to speak of in terms of weapons" Naomi said. "You know this space better then I do, so take the helm captain" and Naomi vaulted over the rail and took Tactical.

"Impulse drive at your command"

"Very well. Release docking clamps. Aft thrusters at full power. Starboard at one half. Port and forward at station keeping"

"Docking clamps released"

"Very well" Naomi said. "Bring us about and ahead one quarter impulse power"

"But thrusters are to be used whilst in spacedock"

"I have been a Captain for over three hundreds. I'm outranking you"

"Aye" and a small smile graced the woman's face. _Icheb_ powered out of the hollowed out asteroid that had enclosed it, and once more prepared for an upcoming battle. "We have cleared spacedoors"

"Shields up, Computer"

"_Shields are raised_"

"Mister Fenella, place us on a course to intercept the Cubes. Put us between them and the dock. Bridge to engineering. Punch up the sequence for the secondary shields and have them ready to come up when I gave the word"

"_Understood_" replied a voice.

"Three minutes until intercept" Fenella said.

""Phasers locked on"

"Actually, we don't have any phasers. We sort of had to take them apart"

"Okay… Targeting disrupters" Naomi laughed. "I bet they don't see this coming" she added, and pressed the firing button. The beams shot out from their emitters and hit the Cubes. They caused massive damage to the hull of the Cube, and great chunks of debris broke off and flew away.

"Holy cow…"

"Targeting torpedoes" and within seconds, the Cube had been blown apart with three volleys of Quantum Torpedoes. "Switching to Target Two" and the second Cube fired at _Icheb_ with an energy draining field.

"Shields are down" Fenella said.

"Engineering, raise secondary shielding"

"_Aye_"

"Evasive manoeuvres!" Naomi said. "Pattern Naomi Nine-Beta"

"Excuse me?"

"Damn it to hell…" Naomi wondered what kind of stuff they taught to cadets these days. "Hard to starboard. Reverse power on starboard impulse engine until we face the local sun"

"Acknowledged"

"Once we are facing that, I want warp speed until we reach the photosphere"

"Then what?"

"We loop around the sun, come up from the less protected side, blast them back to components and then send the pieces back to Microsoft"

"Microsoft was assimilated by the Borg over a hundred years ago"

"I guess their planetary weapons were not effective"

"Actually they overheated rapidly and failed" Fenella said.

"Typical shoddy parts. Knew we should have bought off Dell" Naomi cursed.

"On the plus side, the Borg software was infected by a virus that involved them having to reset their Cubes to factory settings" but the Cube came up with a new plan of attack. It started flooding the local area with high intensity particles which stopped the _Icheb_ from going to warp. In doing so, it left an exhaust port open which Naomi targeted and hit with a trio of torpedoes. One whole side of the Cube crumpled before peeling off like the skin of a banana, and Naomi could see drones tumbling out into space.

"I'm reading massive failure of the Cube's main systems" Naomi said. "Auto Destruct is offline, and it looks as if it isn't going anywhere"

"You going to blow it up?" asked Fenella.

"I'm going shopping" Naomi replied, and the other Captain was left to wonder what Naomi meant.

# # # # #

What Naomi meant was to eliminate all of the Borg remaining on the Cube and then strip it for all of the usable parts once she went back to her own timeline. The destroyed Cube also came up with more usable parts, and Naomi intended to have them retro fitted to the _Voyager_ and _Janeway_ the moment she got back. _Icheb_'s refit went very well indeed, and she was out for a day sooner then expected. _Icheb_ was like a ghost ship with its empty corridors, cabins and work areas, and it brought back some sad memories of _Voyager_'s journey back to the Alpha Quadrant. She took the deserted bridge and looked at the stations that ran on their own.

"Computer, release docking clamps"

"_Clamps released_"

"Back us off from the dock. One half impulse power. Override warnings by Captain's order"

"_Override logged in ship's log_"

"Swing us around and exit the asteroid" Naomi ordered, moving to Mezoti's station. The ship powered out of the dock and sailed into space. "Status report"

"_All systems at nominal performance. The ship is clear and free to navigate_"

"Understood. Set course for the Limetka system - Warp 9.5"

"_Course set_"

"Engage" and the ship jumped to warp and began the journey back to the Limetka system. "Activate the cloaking device, and go to passive sensors only" Naomi worked on the bridge for a while before retiring to the Astrometrics lab to work on complex equations for time travel. The hours passed quickly for Naomi, and the automatic pilot brought the ship out of warp near the edge of the system. Naomi decided to lay quiet overnight and see if anything showed up. Nothing would go wrong with this time travel run, but Naomi had no intention of travelling directly home. She would be stopping at Norcadia Prime to take Gratis along for the ride back to Earth as well.

# # # # #

"_Shields are at 100% Deflector dish is charged and awaiting your command_" the computer said.

"Computer, set course 118 mark 221 by 35"

"_Course plotted and laid in_"

"Engage at Warp 9.8"

"_Affirmative_" said the computer in reply. _Icheb_ jumped to warp and flew the great distance from its location to the sun. The ship soon began to feel the sun's effects on its hull, and Naomi diverted a touch more power to the shields.

"Computer, adjust trajectory to this set program" Naomi ordered.

"_Adjustment accepted. Adjusting course_"

"Display projected results on main viewscreen" the main viewer changed from the ever growing sun to that of a grid layout. A tiny _Icheb_ speeded towards the sun, but it looped around it and headed back almost the same way it had come. "Computer, should I be unable to issue commands, proceed with program Delorean 1"

"_Acknowledged_" it replied. Naomi left the science station and rushed to the Engineering substation. A quick check showed that everything was in working order, so she went to her normal seat to wait for the operation to complete itself. It went swimmingly as _Icheb_ swung round the sun at high warp and came around the other side in the correct time period.

"All stop. Sensor scan" Naomi ordered, getting up and returning to the Science station. "Using known navigational and star chart data, have we arrived in our normal timeline?"

"_Affirmative. Current date is July 16__th__ 2417 old Earth calendar. Would you like the date in Stardate form?_"

"No, thank you very much" Naomi replied. "Set course for the Norcadian system - maximum warp. Engage" and the powerful engines kicked over into warp speed.

# # # # #

Naomi had stopped briefly to pick up Gratis before heading out of the system and to open space. Once clear of anything, she activated the transwarp drive and prepared for a lonely four month trip back to the Alpha Quadrant. Whilst travelling at such speeds, and being almost alone, she decided that there was no need to dress in a uniform all of the time. In fact, she spent a lot of the trip doing other things and going to the bridge only when manual adjustments had to be carried out. Gratis stayed in her cell most of the time, and was only permitted exercise in the holodeck after being beamed there. When she had demanded to gain access to a higher authority, Naomi handed her a copy her autobiography in hardprint..

"On this ship, _I am_ the highest authority" and then stopped her privileges for several days. One of the ways to stay sane was to ride a motor bike around the ship - bringing back fond memories of the karting the group had done on _Voyager_. Despite just wasting time, Naomi always ensured that the log was kept up to date and that Gratis was provided with everything that was in the regulations - including medical treatment. When she had cut herself after being flung back by the forcefield, Naomi beamed her to one of the holodecks where she was treated by a rather grumpy holographic Klingon Doctor. There was nothing in the rules stating that the attending physician had to be in a good mood!

# # # # #

"Captain's Log, Stardate 71001.2

In a few hours, I shall drop out of transwarp and start the beginning of the end for the Borg. The last four months virtually alone on the voyage home has given me time to think about life after the battle is over with - should we win the day. The ship is at full readiness, and has done well after being on one heading for so long. Recommendations: commendations to Starfleet R&D, Starfleet Services, Starfleet Command. Officers: Commander Wildman, Commander Azan, Commander Rebi.

Captain, Out"

"_Recorded_" the computer said.

"Time until destination point?" asked Naomi.

"_Seven hours, fifteen minutes_"

"Very good. Maintain course and speed"

"_Acknowledged_" and Naomi went into her ready room to work on her report to Starfleet HQ. "_Proximity alert_" the computer announced.

"What?" Naomi came running back onto the bridge. "Computer, report"

"_A Borg Sphere is approaching from astern. Weapons are charged. We are being targeted_"

"Red Alert!" Naomi said. "Divert forward shield energy to the aft grid. Stand by aft torpedo launchers with Quantum Torpedoes"

"_Acknowledged. Energy rerouted. Aft torpedo launchers powered and ready_"

"Target and fire a full load from both launchers"

"_Firing_" and blue balls of light came from the aft launchers and slammed into the hull.

"Computer, vent atmosphere from the ship except for the bridge and the brig"

"_Acknowledged_" it replied. By venting the atmosphere from the ship, Naomi had lightened the total weight and given _Icheb_ a little boost that took itjust out of disrupter and phaser range of the Sphere. For the rest of the journey, the two vessels slung torpedoes at each other like small children throwing mud.

#

**Starfleet Command**

Mezoti had been working hard with Azan and Rebi to get both the _Voyager_ and the _Janeway_ fit for duty. A number of other ships were refitted with additional shield emitters and upgraded weapon systems, but it was taking every single drydock to do it. Because of this, the security of the Federation's borders was now in the hands of vessels approaching a hundred years and more.

"Mezoti?" Rebi came in the office with a mournful time

"What now?" the Norcadian groaned. She was missing Naomi a great deal, and it had been weeks before the twins could make her understand that Naomi was only protecting her.

"_Ruskin_ has suffered a burst radiation sink whilst crews worked on installing the impulse drive" Rebi said.

"Casulties?"

"No dead, but sixteen people have been exposed to high levels of radiation"

"Thats something..." she rubbed her forehead and sighed.

"I was just about to eat" said Rebi. "Would you like to join me for dinner?" he asked.

"I can't" Mezoti replied. "I have a lot of work to do"

"You are coming if you like it or not" Rebi said.

"These reports do not write themselves you know"

"Resistance is futile!" Rebi stuck his hands out in front of him and part shuffled and part lumbered over and around the desk. "Ughhhh urghhhhhhh..." and Mezoti laughed.

"I suppose that i could spare half an hour" she said, and saved her work before getting up and following her long time friend.

"I hear they are serving Cottage Pie" Rebi said.

"I love that" said Mezoti.

"I asked the galley staff to make it specialy for you" her friend replied. "I know you have not been eating right for some time now because of Naomi. I admit that I too have been thinking about her"

"Oh?"

"Although she is undertaking a trip of several months on her own, I believe that Naomi is more then capable of completing it"

"I think she'll be fine as well" mezoti and Rebi dragged Azan out from a meeting of Engineers to all have a good meal together. They were half way through the massive plates of pie when the intercom sounded Red Alert.

'_Red Alert! Red Alert! All Hands to stations_'

"Control, this is Commander Wildman" Mezoti tapped her combadge with the edge of a spoon. "This better be a drill"

"_Commander, we're picking up a Borg Sphere speeding past Jupiter like a bat out of hell_"

"We're on our way" Mezoti picked up her plate and carried it with her to the door.

"Why the hell not?" shrugged Azan and he and his twin did the same.

#

"Alright then" Naomi said. "Computer, is the ship's location right where we expected to be?"

"_Afirmative_"

"Then load forward torpedo bays and stand by phasers"

"_Torpedoes loaded. Phasers are charged and standing by on your command_"

"Drop the cloak" Naomi ordered, and the ship became a little less transparent. "Eat my torps..." and slammed her fist down on the fire button. Milliseconds later and _Icheb_ unleashed the full potential of the forward weapon's array. Phasers and torpedoes fired in a co-ordinated pattern and tore into the Sphere. The ship had dropped out of Transwarp a few seconds early and immdiatly done an end run so it was behind the Borg ship. A note on the display indicated more vessels moving in, but Naomi kept up the fire until all of her Quantum Torpedoes had been exhausted from the forward magazines. "Set course for the heart of that ship - full impulse! Burn through the phaser capaciters, Computer. Put every last piece of juice you can into the forward array"

"_Acknowledged_" and the phasers glowed redder from the forced overload. This was no ordinary Sphere as it should have blown apart by then, and Naomi assumed it was some kind of armoured one like the Cubes were.

#

"Shields are up" Azan reported.

"Weapon systems coming online - ready to fire" Rebi said.

"Target that Cube and stand by to fire" Mezoti said. Starfleet had scrambled around to get ships out of drydock, and a task force of six heavy cruisers sped from Utopia Planetia. With no other ship avalible, the trio had put out in an old _Excelsior_ which was used as little more then transport.

"This is odd..." muttered Azan. "I am reading high amounts of radiation coming from the Sphere. However, I am also reading smaller explosions and phaser fire"

"I guess they are taking out the defence ships" Mezoti said.

"Closing to within weapons range" Rebi said.

"Fire!" and the elderly vessel fired what it had at the Sphere. The other six vessels joined in and poured more fire into the rapidly exploding Borg Sphere. It tore apart under the combined assault. "We couldn't have done that much damage" Mezoti said.

"I am reading another vessel emerging from the explosion" Azan said.

"On screen" Mezoti ordered. The main viewscreen came up and displayed the dying remains of the Sphere, and through it came the saucer section of a _Voyager_ class ship. The hull was scorched so bad that the name was unreadable.

"The ship is sending a general broadcast hail" Rebi said. "I am patching us in" and the screen changed to show Naomi standing on the bridge of the _Icheb_ in full uniform.

"_This is Captain Naomi Wildman of the _USS Icheb_ assuming command of all Federation forces. Stand by to recieve new battle orders_" and then she smiled. "Icheb_ to Mezoti. Hi, Honey... I'm Home_!"

"Naomi, this is your wife speaking" Mezoti hit the com panel on the console. "I dont care what you've done or where you have been - you beter have brought me back a nice gift!"

"_Does the secret of destroying the Borg count_?" Naomi asked with a huge grin on her face.

"Just about covers it" Mezoti replied. "Request permission for myself and two of my crew to come aboard"

"_How many do you have_?"

"Two"

"_Permission granted, Commander. _Icheb_ out_"

"Get somebody to fly this thing back to Spacedock. We have to rejoin our ship" Mezoti had tears of joy running down her face at the thought of her loved one safe and sound again.


	6. In The Dark Of The Night

**In The Dark Of The Night **

"What are you planning on doing tonight?" asked Azan.

"I have a meeting of the Federation Security council" Naomi sighed. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking we all have the night off and spend it at your cottage" Azan said. "It has been a while since we could do so" and Naomi mulled it over in her mind.

"I suppose I could skip the meeting…" she said after a moment's thought.

#

The evening had been fun, and Naomi, her wife, the twins and the Doctor had got together and ate, drank, got merry and recalled various episodes concerning _Voyager_'s crew in the time they had known them. That night, however, had been several days previous, and the _Icheb_ was scheduled to depart from drydock the following day. In the cabin shared between Naomi and Mezoti, Naomi found herself unable to sleep from the worry. She had attempted to put her wife and the twins ashore several times, but they replied that they had started the mission together and would end it the same way. Slipping out of bed, she walked into the living room and asked the computer for the time.

"_The time is 01:37_" it replied. Naomi tried drinking a glass of warm milk, but that didn't seem to help. Moving quietly, she pulled on a uniform and headed for the nearest emergency transporter room. A little working of the console, and the woman stood beneath the imposing structure of _Voyager_ – _her Voyager_. She got past the night watchman with little effort, and she took the turbolift from the small building next to it, and then walked along the gangplank to board the ship. The familiar smells comforted her, and she walked the deck before coming full circle. She walked to the ship's own turbolift shaft and stepped inside a waiting car.

"Deck 9, Section 12" and the car went towards Naomi's old quarters. "Hold" she spoke after a few seconds. "Reroute turbolift to Deck 1 – Bridge"

"_You are now on the bridge. This is where Captain Janeway, and later Captain Wildman, made their encounters, battles and decisions_" the computer started giving out the standard tourist spiel. At least nothing had been changed from the day Naomi and her crew had landed it in the grounds of the Academy – except the centre chair which now resided on the _Icheb_. When she had come aboard the ship after a few days off on leave, she had found they had upgraded the computer's voice to a newer version. As they had deleted the old program, Naomi had the caretakers send up a copy of _Voyager_'s on account that she much preferred the system she was used to. "_To your immediate right is the station used by Commander Tuvok_. _To for' ward starboard is the bridge Engineering console. On the opposite side is the Science stat-_"

"Computer, stop playback" Naomi ordered, and it paused in the middle of explaining her mother's old station. The woman walked around the bridge, ran her hands over the various railings, consoles, screens and even the floor as she took an impulse cruise down memory lane. She ordered a hot chocolate from the replicator in the briefing room, then returned to the bridge to look around – focusing on the main viewscreen. "Computer, access Ship Log, stardate 51172.4… Cancel that… Access the visual sensor logs for the Holodecks for the last birthdays celebrated onboard for Naomi Wildman, Mezoti, Azan, Rebi and Icheb before this ship returned to the Alpha Quadrant"

"_Accessing... Logs accessed_"

"Begin playback on main viewer"

"_Your visitation rights do not permit the use of the main viewer_" and Naomi chuckled and shook her head with a smile.

"Begin playback of requested files. Authorisation Flotter T Water III" and the viewer changed from the _Voyager_'s crest and number to start playing the logs Naomi had asked for.

#

_Naomi stepped out onto the bridge, took the report from Rebi and started her shift on the bridge. She was about half way through her turn when her comm badge went off._

_'Doctor to Naomi Wildman"_

_"Naomi here"_

_'Please report to Holodeck 1' and he closed the channel before Naomi asked what the matter was. She attempted to get Icheb up to mind the bridge for a while, but the comm system was refusing to put through her calls. The doors to the Holodeck opened up and she saw the Flotter program running and her friends inside by the pool._

_"SURPRISE!" they shouted._

_"Happy birthday, Naomi" Mezoti hugged her best friend tightly. Everyone did the same, and she was led by the hand to the waterfall where Flotter normally resided. She looked around, expecting to see Flotter and Trevis, but saw neither of the pair._

_"We deactivated the characters" said Azan. "As much as they are nice, it would be pleasant for this event to just have us" he added._

_"We had to deactivate them because Mezoti got into a fight with Flotter over the title of 'Best Friend'. Flotter seemed to think he was that person" Icheb said, and then handed her a present he had spent hours thinking of and making. It was a miniature oven which could bake small buns and cakes. The heating unit came from a now vacant set of quarters._

_"This is from myself and Azan" said Rebi, and handed Naomi their present – Flotter, and Treevis action figures. "You can have your own adventures now" he added._

_"This is from me" said the Doctor, and he gave her her very own holocamera. "These are from me as well" and pointed out the two small boxes under the trees near the water. Naomi opened the first to find an environmental suit in her size, and in the second - much small box – was a old fashioned leather backed album of pictures of her and her mother. A number of them also included the crew when they had gone to parties – like the wedding between Tom Paris and B'lanna Torres._

_"Thanks" she said_

_"If I was you, I would take out the album and look underneath it" said the Doctor, and she did so to reveal a framed picture of her mother in the dress she had worn for her last birthday._

_"Thank you very much" she said quietly._

_"It is illogical for you to cry at this time" said Icheb._

_"Why?"_

_"It would be a waste of time" he said._

_"Of what?"_

_"Of time making this food, and only letting it spoil" he said, and with a wave of his hand, a picnic blanket and basket appeared close to the edge. Naomi was surprised by the level of work that had gone into this._

_"Is this all real food?" she asked._

_"We have been making it for several days, and it includes all your favourite foods" said the Doctor. "Although as your physician I would recommend that you avoid all this unhealthy stuff" and Naomi rolled her eyes and giggled._

_"You would say that" she laughed. They sat and ate the cold food first like sandwiches and jelly and ice cream. Mezoti called up a set of changing rooms and she, Naomi and the twins changed into appropriate clothing and went swimming. Icheb preferred to change alone and lie back on a water float – watching the fun going on around him. They came out after a while, showered and then came out to the warm food. A cake was brought out afterwards, and Mezoti and the twins got Icheb to dance with Naomi. As he did so, the Doctor took some snaps on Naomi's new holocamera so she had pictures of everything that had happened._

"Did my hair really look bad from that angle?" Mezoti asked from the aft of the bridge.

"Yup" Naomi giggled. She turned in the seat to look back at her wife. "Trouble sleeping?" she asked.

"Sort of" Mezoti admitted, coming around the railing to take the seat last occupied by Chakotay. "We've done so much since we were little children" the woman said.

"That we have…" Naomi chuckled. "I expected only to be in charge until we got back to the Alpha Quadrant. I never expected to be _Voyager_'s Captain for real. Still… We've also been through a lot. Bringing the ship home, fighting off the Dominion, Section 31 – twice…"

"And" Mezoti said, reaching for a hand, "We've lost too many people"

"Yeah" Naomi glanced to her mother's old station. "People who should have been here to help us. Captain Janeway would be an Admiral by now, my mom might be a Commander. Icheb might still be with us… But do you know what?" she asked.

"What?"

"I wouldn't have changed this for all the tea in China" and the pair giggled.

"I see nothing funny" said Azan.

"Guys?" Mezoti glanced over her shoulder at the twins who had appeared from the turbolift. "Shouldn't you be with your fiancées?"

"We both promised to finish this mission with Naomi" Rebi said. "Yes, our beloveds wish we could get married sooner rather then later, but they know that this is important to both of us"

"As a wise person once said, if something is important, then you _make_ the time" Azan put in.

"You see, Nai, that no matter what happens on this, we're with you till the end" Mezoti kissed Naomi on the lips.

"If we go now, we can get breakfast at the Academy before reporting back to the ship" Rebi said, glancing at the clock on the aft consoles. As Naomi instructed the computer to return to normal tour mode on the bridge, a thought made her smile with great warmth.

"How about here?" she suggested. "The condemned deserve a good last meal"

#

"Captain on the bridge" Mezoti called.

"As you were" Naomi growled. She never could get that fierce Captain look down. "Status of the ship?" she asked.

"The ship is at stable 1" Azan said. "The last of the supplies were loaded two hours ago, and they have been secured" he added.

"All crew are present and accounted for, Captain" Rebi said.

"Very well" Naomi took her seat. "Chief Brex, please bring the main deflector, warp drive and impulse engines online. Make sure our warp intermix ratio is at optimal efficiency"

"Aye, Captain" Brex replied. "Main deflector and main drive systems register as ready"

"Mr Azan, please bring the structural integrity field online, and make sure our tactical systems are primed and ready"

"Shields and defensive systems registering as fully operational, Sir. We have a full torpedo compliment, and the structural integrity fields are engaged for transit" he told his friend.

"Commander Wildman, please bring sensors online. Check that all Worker Bees are cleared from our dock"

"Main sensors online" Mezoti said formally, though Naomi never expected anything else in the circumstances. "All Worker Bees have cleared drydock area, Captain"

"Lieutenant Commander Kiska, clear all moorings and take us out easy – one quarter impulse power" Naomi turned her attention to Rebi. "Commander, please signal the Quartermaster that we're heading out"

"Signal sent… Quartermaster has cleared us for departure" Rebi said.

"All moorings cleared" Kiska said. "Impulse engines engaged" and slowly, but surely, _Icheb_ moved from her berth and into open space.

"We have cleared drydock. We are clear and free to navigate" Mezoti said.

"Open a channel to _Voyager_ and _Janeway_" Naomi ordered.

"Channel open" Azan said.

"This is Captain Wildman. Set course for Savoy 1. Once you have cleared Pluto, please open your sealed orders and proceed with them. You will be under strict radio silence until the time indicated – Wildman out. Kiska, set course bearing 272 mark 12, speed Warp 9.95. Once we have cleared Wolf 359, engage the cloaking device and take us to Transwarp"

"Aye, Captain" Kiska said. "Course plotted and laid in"

"Engage" and the ship jumped to warp in a blinding flash of light.

"Estimate Wolf 359 in twenty five minutes" Kiska said.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Brex, begin power up sequence of the Transwarp drive"

"Power up in progress"

"Signalling Yellow Alert" Azan said automatically. It was a standing order on Naomi's ship that they go to Yellow Alert when they entered or left Transwarp. Better to have the shields up rather then down and somebody got a lucky shot.

"_Voyager_ and _Janeway_ have entered Transwarp" Mezoti said.

"You can track them?" asked a surprised Kiska.

"Oh, purleaseeeee…" the XO drawled out, "I can pick up an asthmatic beetle half a galaxy out"

"Cloaking device is online" said Rebi.

"All speeds through Transwarp at your command" Brex said.

"Engage the cloak, and take us to Transwarp" Naomi said. "Kiska, take us to 75% of output"

"Captain? We've never run the drive at that level on this ship before" Kiska turned in her seat.

"You heard the orders, Mister" Mezoti said.

"She's having her head now…" and Naomi was content to fell her ship talking through the deck plates. The shift changed a few hours later, and Naomi commanded a meeting for the following morning comprised of the senior officers.

#

"People, these are our orders" Naomi spoke from the head of the Conference table. "As you know, we are to take the fight to the Borg themselves. What you do not know, is that we are in a position to stop them once and for all"

"How?" asked Brex. "Three ships of this class could take on a dozen Cubes, but you talk of going to the Borg homeworld" but Naomi shook her head.

"Now that would be the wrong thing to do" she told him. "With information gained by _Voyager_'s records, captured Borg data nodes and… other sources, we know of a planet that is a key part of the communications chain for the Collective. If we take that out, then the Borg would have lost a quarter of the ability to control their vessels"

"What is the estimate for the re-establishment?" Kiska asked.

"Starfleet Command believes it could take them almost five months to get everything back in order" Mezoti said. "That delays the invasion of the Federation by at least that period" she added.

"So we take out a quarter of the Borg communications network" Brex said. "Then what do we do?"

"We then set a direct course to Unimatrix 001, and blast the Borg to hell" Azan said.

"That motion is seconded" his brother added dryly.

"But that place is made up of hundreds of thousands of vessels and stations" Kiska frowned, "Not even three _Voyager_ class ships have that fire power to destroy that lot"

"Would you care to explain, Mez?" Naomi wondered.

"I believe I would" her wife replied with a cheeky smile. "If we concentrated our firepower on one target at a time, we could take out approximately seven Tactical Cubes before being destroyed ourselves. Coming in from three different vectors at once splits the Borg up somewhat"

"So Borg derived and Quantum torpedoes are to be the order of the day then?" Brex asked.

"No…" Rebi said lazily. "We fire a Nova Bomb"

"_NOVA BOMB?_" exclaimed Kiska. "We're carrying a Nova Bomb?"

"Actually, we're carrying two of them" Naomi smiled at her officer's reaction. Brex had simply gone green – an interesting colour for a blue skinned Bolian to go. "The other two are carried by the _Voyager_ and _Janeway_. They make one high speed pass, deploy the bomb and then get the hell out of there at Transwarp"

"And us?"

"We have an extra onboard in case they miss" Azan said. "Our target is the main complex where the Queen resides. Once we have done that, we make an end run and blast the local star with our second bomb. That will cause a chain reaction and cause a supernova – wiping out the remains to atoms"

"That's it?"

"That simple" Naomi said. "We've been tasked with this extra thing because I have the best crew, the best ship and an award winning smile. If the worst comes to the worst, then we'll evac to the other ships and ram _Icheb_ into the Borg"

"But any surviving Borg would shoot a ship down on automatic pilot" Brex said. "Even with a computer like this one…" he added.

"I am well aware of that, Engineer" Naomi said sharply. "You will note that I never said anything about an automatic pilot. Now then, if there is no other business… Kiska, Brex, you are dismissed" and the two officers left – leaving Naomi and her senior staff alone.

"That is an interesting plan you have, Miss Wildman" the Doctor said. He had been having the time of his hologramatic life sorting out the medical supplies before they had all set out from drydock.

"But it is a costly one" Mezoti said. "Best estimates give us 30% casualties between the three ships. That is assuming phase one goes to plan, and we take out the Borg communications network on the planet" she added glumly.

"There is that one snag" said Azan in agreement.

"With all of those defensive ships, we'd need one hell of a helmsman" Naomi said.

"If only we could bring back Mr Paris" the Doctor said with a regretful tone.

"I'll unpack the ship's Ouija board" Rebi said dryly.

"We should all remember the fact that none of us may return from the mission" Naomi said, turning to watch the blurred stars go by the briefing room window – mixed with vortexes and still unknown energies.

"I think it is safe to say that we all would pay that price" Azan was the first to speak. "I was taken by the Borg once before – I have no plans to be part of the Collective again"

"That will never happen, Azan, let me assure you of that" Naomi said with a weak smile. "If it looks as if we are going to be overrun, I'll evacuate the remaining crew to another ship and then ram into the Unimatrix complex at high warp"

"What about the _Voyager_ and the _Janeway_?" asked the Doctor. "I assume that they have orders to the same thing?" and he was surprised to see Naomi shake her head.

"What I am about to say does not leave this room"

"Understood" the others replied in unison.

"If one or both of the other two ships look as if they are to be taken by the Borg, I have orders to take them out" Naomi said.

"How?" asked Rebi.

"Either by firing on them, activating their Auto Destruct after changing the timer to instantaneous, or by any other method that I deem fit for the task" Naomi said.

"Do their crews know about this?" asked the Doctor.

"No" Naomi said. "Neither of their Captains know of the order, and I hope that I never have to give the order to sacrifice people not assimilated yet. However, they have knowledge of our most advanced weapons, newest ships, locations of units and bases… Add to that the stuff they can get from the computer banks and we have a cluster fuck"

"What if we left most of the crews on a habitable planet before we went in for the attack?" suggested the Doctor. "We'd save lives then"

"True, but we're going to need everybody on this job, Doctor. Believe me when I say I've gone through endless simulations to get the number of lives lost down…" Naomi told the hologram.

"What if the Borg deactivate the Auto Destruct?" asked Mezoti.

"Then my orders are to blow up the Nova Bomb whilst still in _Voyager_ or _Janeway_. The explosion will take them and a sizable portion of the Borg fleet out" Naomi said.

"Well we have a three month cruise to look forward to" the Doctor said. "How do we spend it?" he asked.

"We're going to have a massive failure of a lot of systems, and that's causing a lot of injuries" Mezoti said.

"A test to see how they react under full war conditions" the hologram could appreciate that idea.

#

"Nai?" Mezoti was lying on the bed in their quarters.

"Yeah?" Naomi called, coming out the bathroom with her uniform jumper tied round her waist.

"You didn't tell the Doctor how you armed the Nova Bombs"

"Why should I?" Naomi asked. "He'd only try to make us allow him to pilot _Icheb_ on his own during the attack" she pointed out.

"I just hope that the Borg don't take out our weapon systems before we can do a load of damage" Mezoti said. "Otherwise, somebody has to arm and fire the bomb manually" and Naomi froze where she stood.

"How did you find that out?" she asked. "That was supposed to be passworded"

"You left it sitting on our bedside table five nights ago" Mezoti shrugged.

"I guess you didn't read all of it then" Naomi sighed, sitting beside her wife and taking a glass of Leola Root beer. "When the bomb is launched normally, the computer sets a subroutine off that stops the bomb from giving off lethal amounts of radiation whilst still in the torpedo tubes. There is no way to set that off when you launch in manual mode. Whoever goes down to launch it is not coming back alive. The Nova Bombs were designed to stop the Borg at the ultimate cost. Each planet in the Federation would have one. If a fleet was unable to hold off the Borg, then the planet would detonate the bomb – killing the population and those in the ships nearby. But they would be saved from a lifetime of slavery to the Borg. It doesn't matter anyway, because we either come back from this mission, or we die trying to complete this mission. No compromises, no terms and certainly no surrender…"

# # # # #

**Two Months Later**

"Captain on the bridge" the helmsman called as Naomi stepped out of the turbolift.

"Report" she asked.

"We are approaching the planet, Captain. Estimate ten minutes until arrival"

"Very well" Naomi walked round and sat in her chair. "What's the traffic like on sensors?" she asked.

"I'm reading four Cubes, three Spheres and an unknown contact at the edge of the system" the Beta shift science officer said. "I can not get a clear reading on it due to interference caused by the transwarp drive" he said.

"Very well. Operations, open a shipwide channel"

"Shipwide, Aye"

"Red Alert! Red Alert! This is no drill. All hands, man your Battlestations" and alarms went off all over the ship as the crew hurried to their stations. Before then ten minutes were up, the bridge crew had swapped for the primary one.

"All weapons systems armed and ready" Azan said. "Shields are at 100%"

"All stations manned, and all decks report they are cleared for action" Rebi said.

"Lomar, take us out of Transwarp" Naomi said. "Ahead one quarter impulse power"

"Aye, Captain" Kiska took the ship to a much slower speed.

"Bring us in on a course that puts the planet between us and the most Borg vessels. I want to be in and out before this is done" Naomi said. "Mez, any idea on that unknown contact?"

"Scanning? No idea. I'm getting confusing readings due to the nebula it is just inside" Mezoti said. "Sensors identify it as anything from the _Enterprise_-_A_ to the Battleship _Hood_"

"Is she a threat?"

"No, she is not moving"

"Dead in space?" Naomi was puzzled. "The Borg might not have seen her then. It they had, they would have repaired it, or assimilated it by now"

"We have company" said Azan. "The Borg have spotted us and are turning to engage. Two Cubes will intercept us two minutes before target is close"

"Evasive manoeuvres, Pattern Kirk Epsilon" Naomi ordered. "Fire pattern Alpha 3-4"

"Hard to starboard" said Kiska.

"Firing phasers" Azan said. "Direct hit to lead Cube. No real damage"

"Standby on Aft launchers" Naomi said. "Load with Quantum Torpedoes"

"Aye"

"Kiska, bring us about to 180 mark 90. Full impulse power"

"Changing course" she replied, just as the Borg's weaponry pounded their shields.

"Shields down to 89%" Rebi said. "No other damage"

"Other Cubes are moving to engage as well" Mezoti said.

"Fire torpedoes!" and a spread of torpedoes came out of the Aft launchers and impacted the unprotected top of the lead Cube.

"Direct hit!" Azan reported. "I am reading small gaps in the hull"

"Load forward torpedo bays with the same warheads, and standby on disrupters for a strafing run topside" Naomi ordered.

"New contacts coming in" said Mezoti suddenly. "Sensors register them as the _Voyager_ and the _Janeway_"

"Rebi, my compliments to their Captains, and have them engage the enemy" Naomi smiled.

"Aye, Captain. Sending message now" he replied. "Both ships reply that they will comply"

"Oh, but how ironic…" Mezoti gave a grim laugh from the science station.

"Kiska, bring the ship about and run along the topside. Azan, fire at will"

"What has poor Will done?" he asked dryly, and worked the controls in front of him. The ship was picked up and tossed several kilometres by the pounding from the other Cubes, and the Spheres which had moved in to join the attack.

"_Voyager_ and _Janeway_ are moving in" Mezoti said.

"Rebi" Naomi was tapping a message to his console. "Have both ships aim for this point on the Cube we damaged. A concentrated amount of firepower should take care of them"

"Message sent"

"Damage report"

"Shields are down to 75%" Rebi said. "We have a minor power loss to the starboard impulse drive. Other then that, we are fully operational"

"Open a channel"

"Channel open"

"Captain Wildman to _Voyager_ and _Janeway_. Kobayshi Maru" and at that moment, all three _Voyager_ class ships let fly with every last firecracker. The green glow from the very bowels of the Cube flickered off, on and then died completely before it ripped apart in a huge fireball that was almost at once snuffed out. The other Borg turned and fled – much to the shock of the Starfleet crews. They blew apart another Cube and Sphere before the remainder escaped to Transwarp.

"That was interesting" said Azan.

"Indeed" said Naomi. "Target the communications array on the planet. Standby Quantum Torpedoes"

"Target locked on" said Azan. "Standing ready for your order"

"Fire" and all three ships fired onto the surface of the planet and destroyed the communications array.

"Target destroyed" Azan said.

"Very good"

"Do we go back to Transwarp?" asked Rebi.

"Not yet" Naomi said. "I want to see what this other ship is. Stand down to Yellow Alert. Kiska bring us about and move us closer to the contact – half impulse"

"Aye, Captain" Kiska replied. "New course 321 mark 45 – one half impulse power"

"Any luck scanning her?" Naomi asked Mezoti.

"Not yet" she replied. "I am increasing power to the forward sensor pallets… I am getting better resolution on the sensors. Scanning the contact now"

"_Voyager_ and _Janeway_ are coming about and following us" said Azan.

"Understood" said Naomi.

"_Raskta_" Mezoti said in amazement. Some of the bridge crew looked at their Science officer with puzzled looks – it was a Norcadian word that they didn't know of.

"Mez, what is it?" Naomi asked her. She was surprised to hear the expression – rather like somebody going 'Jesus' or 'Christ Almighty'.

"That ship… Naomi, I know that ship"

"You do?"

"She's Norcadian, Nai… It's the _Castiana_" Mezoti looked up as she put the image of the ship on the main viewscreen. The ship was like a bulked up lozenge shape, and it had a large roll bar running in a loop around the stern.

"She doesn't look like any Norcadian ship I have ever seen" Azan said.

"You wouldn't have" Mezoti said, voice full of awe and astonishment. "She was launched before I was taken by the Borg. She was built by my people to battle the Borg. She had all of our latest weaponry installed, the fastest Warp Drive we could make…"

"How did she end up here?" asked Rebi.

"The week before I was on the ship taken by the Borg, she was launched to undergo trial runs and a full shakedown cruise. The last message received from her was that the ship was under attack by a new type of Borg vessel, and she would try to Warp away from the battle and get back. Our long range sensors recorded a huge explosion and radiation spike, and so we assumed she was lost with all hands" Mezoti said, keeping her gaze on the ship. It had a certain grace and beauty about it.

"Old Gene Roddenberry would have liked this" Naomi said, referring to an engineer she had worked with years ago at Utopia Planetia.

"Is she damaged?" Kiska asked, bringing the ship to a halt close by – the other two ships in their group doing the same.

"What?" Mezoti shook herself from the hold the ship had on her and worked her console. Sensors indicate no external damage to the ship. I am reading no lifesigns aboard her" she added with a tinge of sadness.

"Is she safe to be near?" asked Azan.

"Picking up some higher then normal radiation markers, but otherwise no danger at all" Mezoti replied. "Power is offline to all decks, but there is a breathable air supply. Its going to be stale, but a boarding party would be safe enough"

"Okay then" Naomi said. "Bridge to Engineering"

"_Engineering_" Brex replied.

"Have an Engineering team in Transporter Room 3. They'll need a couple of portable power packs, and they'll need to get some EVA suits as well" Naomi said, pushing up from her chair.

"_Understood_" Brex said and closed the channel.

"Mezoti, Azan, Rebi – you're with me. Commander Kiska, you have the bridge" Naomi was halfway to the turbolift when Kiska's voice called her back.

"Captain, may I remind you that regulations specify that you don't leave the ship to enter a hazardous zone" she said.

"True, but I am going anyway"

"I must protest, and request that my protest be noted"

"So noted" Naomi told her. "I'll enter it into the log – assuming I survive" and she stepped inside the turbolift and left the bridge.


	7. Calm Before The Storm

**Calm Before The Storm**

"Energise" and the transporter took them from the _Icheb_ to the Norcadian vessel. Naomi took the tricorder from her suit's pouch and started scanning – noting that Azan and Rebi did the same. "See if you can get the doors open" she ordered the Engineering crew.

"I am not reading any lifesigns" Azan said.

"I could have told you that" Mezoti said quietly, looking at the slowly spinning figure of a decomposed body. "I guess this ship isn't abandoned after all" she added.

"Got another one here" called Rebi, pointing out another revolving body. Both wore jump suits like those worn by the crews of the NX starships of the 22nd Century. The front of their clothing was stained with what looked like their own blood, but Mezoti confirmed they were Norcadian by the outline of the _Castiana_ and the ship's name in her native language.

"There's more here" said one of the Engineers, pointing through a now open door. They could see bodies floating in the corridor, and they could clearly see the damage the ship had sustained internally.

"Must have been one hell of a battle" whistled Rebi. They carefully picked their way through the dead, and came upon a dozen Borg drones with varying amounts of damage sustained.

"All dead" said Azan.

"None of the Borg seem to be in a working state, but lets make sure of that" Naomi pulled out her personalised phaser and atomised the drones. "Do you know anything about the layout of the ship?" she asked Mezoti.

"Nothing springs to mind" Mezoti said after thinking hard. "If we keep going, we'll find a lift eventually. I do know that Engineering is at the very bottom of the ship. We beamed in inside a cargo bay, so we're about in the middle of the ship – assuming it follows standard Norcadian layouts"

"We should head to the bridge or control room" Azan said. "We can power up the main systems from there"

"Captain Wildman to _Icheb_"

"_Go ahead, Captain_" Kiska said.

"We've found members of the ship's crew still aboard – all dead. She's been through a massive firefight inside, and there is quite a bit of damage to her internal spaces. Run a sweep over the _Castiana_'s hull and see if she is fit for flight. If she is," Naomi said, glancing at Mezoti who was gently moving the bodies to one side, "We'll take her with us and stop by Norcadia Prime on our way back"

"_Take her with us?_" Kiska sounded surprised. She had been expecting to download the computer files and then destroy the ship.

"The Norcadians set out to defeat the Borg, and that is just what we are going to do" Naomi said. "Call us when you have an answer, Captain out. People, lets get moving"

#

The bridge was located deep inside the middle of the ship, and it took half of a power pack to open the door – so stiff from decades of unuse. It was almost completely empty. Whilst the Engineering crews and the twins worked on getting power running through the room, Mezoti stepped to the body in a chair located in the middle.

"The ship's Captain" Mezoti told Naomi simply.

"We have got power to the bridge" Azan said, and several consoles lit up as the lights came on. A small indicator on the Captain's chair arm started blinking on and off which caught the attention of Naomi and Mezoti.

"The Captain was recording a message when he died" Mezoti said.

"Can you run it through the translator and play the message back?" asked Naomi. Her wife pressed a few buttons, then crossed to a working console and tapped a couple of the controls – displays changing as she did so.

"I've patched our suit radios into the bridge intercom system" Mezoti said. "Running through translator now"

"_To whomever should find this vessel, I am Jsaon, Captain of the _Castiana._ Our ship was invaded whilst on trial runs by beings known as the Borg. We tried to escape but ended up deep inside Borg space. Some of them transported aboard our ship during the fight, and they killed nearly my entire crew – but at the cost of themselves. In order to stop them from taking over the ship fully, I poured radiation into those corridors containing Borg. We have lost our air supply in the attack, and we have no idea where we have ended up. We are dying, and the remainder of my crew have elected to die at their posts. I take full responsibility for the deaths of my crew, and the inability to get away from the Borg. I ask that anybody finding this ship give my crew decent funeral rites. Goodbye_"

"You did your best, Captain" Mezoti said.

"You can rest easy now, Sir" Naomi said to the long dead Captain. "We'll take care of your crew"

"Icheb_ to Captain Wildman_" Kiska called.

"Go ahead"

"_Captain, we've run sensor sweeps over the ship. She is damaged, but capable of moving under either tow or her own power_"

"Very well" Naomi replied. "We're going to get life support online and the air recycled. Once that has happened, have the Doctor come aboard with a Medical detail for examination of the bodies"

"_Aye, Captain_. Icheb_ out_"

"Azan, find a ship's schematic and try to locate the Engine Room. Rebi, begin downloading the logs to the ship. Mez, can you reconfigure the consoles so they display English?" Naomi asked.

"Give me a few moments" Mezoti replied, turning to a large console on the starboard side of the bridge.

"I have found a plan of the ship" Azan said. "The Engine Room is located twelve decks below us. I think I can power up a lift from here. Once we get to the Engine Room, we can check the ship's reactor core and turn it on again"

"Beginning download now" Rebi said. The consoles blinked out, then returned but with English as the language setting.

"Mez, take the Engineers to get started on the work. Azan, go with them" Naomi ordered. "Rebi, see if you can get the ship's communications array operational. I'll work the Engineering board up here"

#

"_Mezoti to Naomi_"

"Go ahead"

"_We have started power up. Artificial gravity is coming online as we speak. We shall attempt to bring life support online, but there is some damage to this entire compartment_"

"Borg?"

"_No. It appears as if the damage here was inflicted by the crew themselves. I would assume they didn't want the Borg to get the ship easily_" Mezoti said in reply.

"Let me know the moment you get life support back online" Naomi said. "I'll get the thrusters online and bring us about"

#

The _Castiana_ was soon being poured over by the crews of all three ships, and damage was being repaired whenever it was found. All of the ship's torpedoes had been expended, presumably during the fight with the Borg, but the phasers would work after a long recharge. Replacement torpedoes came from the stock carried aboard _Icheb_, and the _Castiana_ was soon able to defend itself again.

"Attention on deck" Azan called. He and the rest of the fleet's senior officers had gathered in the _Castiana_'s forward shuttlebay. The huge door was open, but a forcefield kept the atmosphere inside the ship. All of the officers had attended dressed in formal dress uniforms, and flags found in the ship's lounge hung either side of the glittering field. Apart from the senior officers, the Engineers that had come over with the first boarding party had expressed a wish to attend the proceedings. At Azan's call, the officers snapped to attention as Naomi walked out of the line and to a podium set up in front of the coffins containing the _Castiana_'s crew.

"We are gathered here today to pay respects to our unknown fellow spacemen" she spoke. "They gave their lives in order to prevent a terrible catastrophe to their homeworld and the Universe as a whole" Naomi pressed a button on the PADD that had sat all the time on the podium. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... Trusting in the goodness and mercy of the Ones whose names we do not know, we commit these bodies to the deep... to await the day of judgment when the souls of all space travellers shall be called forth to face Their judgement" and as she finished, a tractor beam gently pushed the caskets through the forcefield and out into the vastness of space - together in one last formation until the Sun's gravity took effect and pulled them into itself. "Detail, detail salute" and all there raised their hands to their heads in salute to their fallen fellow space travellers. "Detail, detail dismiss!" and the ceremony was completed.

#

"What do you plan on doing with the _Castiana_?" asked Mezoti. "You could set it on a relativistic speed course to Norcadia. By the time we finish the mission, it would be half way there by then"

"Actually, I was thinking of putting her under the command of one of the senior officers of the fleet" Naomi said, swirling her drink around in its glass. "Somebody who has turned down two commands already. She's about due for a command of her own"

"Oh?" Mezoti frowned. She knew of several people that fitted that grouping, but couldn't remember if any were in the task force.

"Commander Mezoti Wildman" Naomi said.

"Does sh-" Mezoti stopped at the realisation of her own name.

"It isn't a full Captain's post, but you'll be an Acting Captain – and the time will clock up" Naomi said.

"I don't know if I am-" Naomi cut her wife off.

"Mez, you are ready for this. You've served for over ten years at the rank of Commander. You have been my trusted right arm for that and longer. You have an exceptional service record. I know you turned down command of the _Brian Blessed_ four years ago. Before that refusal, you turned down the chance to sit in the centre seat of the _Asgard_. I know on the grapevine talk about you. You are thought of as a much respected and very competent officer"

"But I haven't commanded anything bigger then a bathtub" Mezoti protested.

"Mez, listen to your wife. Everybody is scared the first time they get a command. When I first had _Voyager_ all those years ago, my knees kept shaking and it took my two hours just to calm down in the mornings" Naomi gave her wife a reassuring hug. "You'll do well enough. You can have a skeleton crew of your choice, but you can't have both of the twins. Congratulations, Commander Wildman, on attaining your first command" and with that, Naomi was picked up by Mezoti and carried to the bedroom.

#

As the _Castiana_ had no Transwarp Drive installed, the other three ships held the entry points open long enough for it to slip inside. The rest of the outbound trip was taken up with more and more training for the mission. Naomi was driving her people hard so they would be victorious over the Borg – and some would say too much herself.

"Captain to Sickbay" Naomi called.

"_Sickbay_"

"Is the Doctor in?" Naomi asked.

"_Not yet, Captain. Is it important?_" asked the voice.

"No, not really… Have him stop by my quarters when he is free. Captain, out" Naomi said, then closed her eyes and lay on the bed. For the last few days she had had a pain in her skull, and the throbbing had gotten worse as she tried to continue working. In only a few days they would be dropping out of Transwarp and getting ready for the fight. Naomi had decided to drop out a day away at Warp 8 in order for any last minute problems to be resolved.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency" the Doctor said as he walked in. He was one of the few friends that had the key to open the door to the quarters without verbal permission. The other two were the twins, Azan and Rebi. "I heard you called for me" the hologram added as he entered the bedroom and set his medical case on the bedside table.

"I've been having these headaches" Naomi said.

"_Headaches_?" the Doctor said.

"Oh, come on, Doctor! Surely you know what a headache is" Naomi said.

"Well, of course I do, but I don't see them very often" the Doctor replied, scanning Naomi with his medical tricorder. It, like the case, was a keep sake from _Voyager_ to remind him of all the adventures they had had. "When did they start?" he asked.

"A couple of days ago when we ran the last of the simulations" Naomi said. "I've been pouring over every piece of information we have about the Borg. Lives are going to be lost in fight, I know that, but I want to keep them down to a minimum" she sighed.

"I believe that you have been overworking, Miss Wildman" the Doctor said. "You have been driving yourself to the breaking point getting ready for the upcoming skirmish. I suggest at least twelve hours rest" the hologram rummaged around in the case and pulled out a hypospray. "I'll give you this for a good sleep. Knowing you as well as I do, you'll not get the full twelve hours rest, so seven hours sleep with this will do you just as good. Once you've awakened, come by Sickbay for some Reeman compound. It should help to relieve some of the stress you are under" and he pressed the hypospray to Naomi's neck and pressed the trigger.

"Destroying the Borg would help get rid of the stress" Naomi sighed as the drug started working. After she fell asleep, the Doctor turned the lights down low and let himself out – thinking how difficult command must be.

#

"Status report" Naomi said as she walked onto the bridge.

"We are approaching the co-ordinates" said Azan.

"Very well" Naomi went into the hollow where the centre seat was. "Yellow Alert! General Quarters!" and the alert status panels lit up in a yellowy orange to indicate a change in condition.

"Aye, captain" Azan was all business. "All hands, this is the bridge. Yellow Alert. General Quarters. All hands, General Quarters! This is not a drill. Yellow Alert!"

"Standby to open transwarp corridor" Naomi said.

"Standing by" Kiska said.

"Open" and the four ships passed into normal space. "Mez, scan… my apologies. Mr Delany, scan for vessels" Naomi was used to Mezoti being on the bridge at the same time she was.

"Scanning…" the young officer at science spoke. "No enemy vessels detected" he said after a moment.

"Open a channel to the fleet" Naomi said.

"Channel open" Azan reported.

"Wildman to fleet. Set course for point Bravo – Warp 8. _Castiana_, engage silent running mode. _Voyager_ and _Janeway_ engage cloaking devices on my mark. Three, two, one mark" and Naomi closed the channel without waiting for a reply.

"Cloaking device is engaged and working within normal ranges" Brex said.

"Very well. Helm, set course for point Bravo – Warp 9. Engage" Naomi made the shooting gesture favoured by Captain Picard.

"Aye, Captain" and the _Icheb_ jumped to a faster speed then the other three ships.

"Naomi, if I may…?" Azan said. "Why are we going at Warp 9?" he asked.

"I want to be there in case there is trouble. You know me, Azan… I go where angels fear to tread" Naomi replied. "I want all senior officers in the conference room in an hour" and left for her ready room.

# # # # #

"We are now in silent running mode" said Rebi.

"Very well" said Mezoti. She was finding her first proper command to be a nervous affair, but had the reliable back up of Rebi to help her when things got tough. "Bridge to Engine Room"

"_Engine Room_"

"Status of warp drive"

"_Warp drive is working within normal parameters_" said the voice of the acting chief engineer.

"Understood. Begin a level three diagnostic of all weapons systems. Pull anybody that you need. How long will that take?" asked Mezoti.

"_Twelve hours_" came the reply.

"You've got ten" Mezoti said. "Bridge, out"

"Mezoti, relax please" Rebi said from where he was carrying out some tests at the Operations console.

"I'm trying to, Rebi – I really am!" Mezoti protested. "I just can not sleep before something this big" and Rebi understood.

"Why don't you go and get some sleep?" he suggested. "I will remain on the bridge and cover your shift" and after another minute of gentle persuasion, Mezoti left to go to her temporary quarters. She ordered a green tea with lemon from the replicator taken from one of the shuttles on _Janeway_. Lying on the sofa, she ordered the computer to play a random selection by Bear McCreary to soothe her nerves. It was not the mission she was worried about, but simply the fact the Borg could board the _Castiana_ and re-assimilate her into the collective. With the knowledge of the mission, ship assignments and current Starfleet tactical and technical data, she would be a valuable addition to the collective once more. She had made her wife promise that she'd make sure that never happened, and to shoot her or otherwise kill her if possible.

#

Three hours after coming out of Transwarp, _Icheb_ arrived at the position concluded to be a blind spot to the Borg's sensors. The ship could see out, but the Borg could not see in – unless by visual means. For the first two hours, the ship had been at continuous Red Alert before going to a constant Yellow Alert. Naomi knew it was hard on her crew, but she was not taking any chances. The sprawling complex of Unimatrix Zero One was a constant presence of the main viewer, and they watched as vessels of all shapes and sizes arrived and departed. It was the hope of Naomi, her friends and Starfleet Command that the destruction of the complex would result in all the Borg vessels and drones self destructing. In order to ensure that the Queen could not communicate with any of her drones, all three _Voyager_ class vessels would cover the area with high intensity particles – thereby blocking the communications used by the Borg. Adoptions made to the Starfleet comm arrays permitted spotty comm links which would serve for the attack.

"We are being hailed" Azan said. "On screen" he added.

"_So what was the big idea?_" asked Mezoti.

"You know me, Mez – I like to get to places early and admire the view" Naomi said. "However, we have a problem. Come aboard and we'll discuss it"

#

"Damn" said Brex. The large screen in the _Icheb_'s briefing room showed the complex that made up their target, but one little part was highlighted so as to draw attention to it.

"As far as we can make out, this is a Mass Detector. From what we can make out, it is designed to pick up vessels larger then a shuttle. From the looks of it, it has been there for a few hundred years" Naomi looked around at the senior officers of the fleet. "We're not sure if it is operational or not. If it _is_, then we're looking at a total bloodbath and mission failure" and there was a silence before it was broken by the Captain of the _Janeway_.

"What do we do about it?" she asked.

"An all out assault would be detected by the Borg, and we'd risk losing the mission. We also can not risk a shuttle being detected if it is over the minimum level on the sensors" Azan spoke.

"So remotely pilot a torpedo?" asked the Captain.

"No" said Mezoti. "Engineering and Science teams are working to modify a Class A probe to act as a relay" she said.

"What for?"

"The plan is to beam a small team inside the general area of the target. They then disable it and signal for beaming out when we make our attack runs" Naomi said.

"Captain Wildman, if I might suggest something…" said _Voyager_'s Captain. "I study old Earth wars as a hobby. Something occurs to me that we could use a tactic from the World War II. Have you ever heard of the 'Human Torpedo'?" and Naomi nodded.

"Vaguely. What are you getting at?" she asked.

"We might not have to beam the team back. We've got plenty of torpedo or probe shells in stock. All we do is modify them to accept commands from an external input source" the officer said.

"I don't understand" Naomi frowned.

"We beam the team into the Unimatrix wearing EVA suits. It'll be difficult to move around in, but it will pay off in the end. Scans reveal a docking port near by that looks as if it came from an old style Federation freighter. The team goes EVA from there and holds onto the probe shells – activating the thrusters from a keypad we place on the outside. Once the team is far enough away, we beam the whole kit and caboodle back aboard the fleet" and Naomi thought about it.

"Brex?"

"We could do it, Captain" the Bolian said. "It will take an additional two hours to write the subroutines and install everything, but we can do it" he added.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Pick the two best people on your ships and have them report aboard the _Icheb_ by 16:45. Commanders Wildman, Azan, Rebi and Brex please remain seated. Dismiss"


	8. Tragedy In Victory

**Tragedy In Victory**

The operation went off, and all of the team were recovered and all four vessels started prepping for the attack. They needed at least seven minutes for the Nova Bombs to deploy and detonate, so it would be a full fleet engagement until all the bombs could be fired.

"Captain on the bridge!" Azan called as Naomi stepped out of the ready room. Given the fact this was an important occasion, Naomi decided not to tell him off for following procedure.

"Status report" she settled for a well understood frown.

"The ship is fully operational" Brex said. "I've been able to increase power to the impulse and shields by 20% each"

"Very good. Open a channel to the fleet"

"Channel open" said Azan.

"This is Captain Wildman. The mission that we have trained a long time for is now upon us. Should we win the day, we will have defeated the biggest enemy that any of us have faced. Never again will the Borg threaten anybody with their terror. All ships – Battlestations" and Naomi could hear the sound of four vessels arming for a fight. As she took her seat, she spoke once more. "There is an old saying 'Fortune Favours The Bold'. Well, we're about to find out. Lets end this once and for all! All vessels move out" and she cut the comm channel. "Helm, attack pattern Naomi Alpha 2. Azan, how long until we reach a spot where we can safely deploy the bomb?" Naomi asked, turning to look at her friend as she felt the motionless motion of the _Icheb_ closing towards the Borg.

"Nine minutes" he replied.

"And we need seven to arm the thing…" Naomi mused. "Alright – lets bring it. Arm the bomb"

"Computer, this is Commander Brex – Chief Engineering Officer. Nova deployment sequence authorised. Zero Zero Strike Red Zero" and the computer sounded a loud horn in confirmation.

"Computer, this is Commander Azan – Operations Officer. Nova deployment authorised. Retro Nine Blue Strike Five Nine Five" and the klaxon sounded again.

"Computer, this is Commander Felix Savali – Acting Chief Tactical Officer. Arming Nova weapons. Execution code Nine Five Over Seven Blue Five - Arm" and the klaxon sounded once more.

"Ready for your final order" Azan said quietly.

"Computer, this is Captain Naomi Wildman – Commanding Officer _USS Icheb_. Nova deployment confirmed. Authorisation Ten Break Alpha. Strike Strike Strike" and the klaxon warbled for a few seconds before the computer announced the bomb was being armed.

"Naomi, Borg vessels have picked up our approach and are moving to intercept. Estimate firing range in about now" Azan finished just as the Borg opened fire. _Icheb_ shuddered from the impact, but nothing would stop them now.

"Return fire on the attacking vessel" Naomi ordered. _Icheb_'s forward facing weapons blazed out and hit the leading Cube.

"Damage to a small section" said Savali. "No effect"

"Continue firing" Naomi ordered. "Azan, Brex. Start flooding the area with high intensity particles. We have to stop any more Borg arriving or leaving" and the pair nodded and started working on rigging the main deflector.

"_Voyager_ has been hit in the aft port quadrant" Savali said as Kiska swooped the ship in a loop and lined them up for a strafing run.

"Anything serious?"

"Their shields are down to 69% in that area"

"Keep an eye on them" Naomi said. "Kiska, put us on a course to pass through the middle of the two Cubes directly ahead of us. Mr Savali, stand by to fire side launchers" and the acting tactical officer hesitated before complying. They'd never got that far during the shakedown tests months previous.

"Brex, increase power to the port and starboard shields"

"Aye, Captain. Main deflector has been rigged for particle burst. Two minutes until charged" the Engineer said.

"Understood" Naomi said, feeling the ship shudder under the constant assault from the Cubes, Spheres, Assimilators and Probes.

"Coming up on Cubes" Kiska said.

"Very well" Naomi replied. "Ahead one half – steady on course"

"Ahead one half. Steady on course. Aye, Sir"

"Side launchers ready" Savali said.

"Wait for it… wait for it…" Naomi chanted as the ship passed between two Cubes. "FIRE!" and torpedo launchers in the side of the ship blazed with light as torpedoes came out and broadsided both Cubes. To an outside observer, the _Icheb_ looked like an old sailing vessel attacking on two sides at once.

"Two Cubes on attack vector" Savali announced.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" cried Naomi, but it was too late, and the Borg pounded the aft shielding of the _Icheb_. The entire ship shook and consoles and conduits overloaded from the sudden assault. "Damage report" Naomi coughed as she climbed back into her seat. She had been thrown halfway over the bridge by the force.

"Aft shields are completely inoperative" Brex said. "We have a hull breach! Forcefields are in place and holding. Damage sustained to port impulse manifold"

"Casualties on Decks 5 through 14" Azan said.

"Bridge to Sickbay. Standby for heavy casualties" Naomi called.

"_Standing By_"

"Can we fire the deflector?" Naomi asked, rubbing at her head - her hand came away with blood on it.

"Affirmative" Azan said.

"Fire"

"Bringing us around for an attack run" said Kiska.

"Weapons ready" said Savali.

"Have all of the other vessels target this location" Naomi said. She passed on the same co-ordinates they had used at the communications array battle.

"The fleet is ready" Azan said.

"Fire" and all four vessels fired into one Cube. It flickered with power loss before exploding in a ball of fire that was almost instantly extinguished. "Switch to next vessel" Naomi ordered.

'_Warning – One minute thirty seconds to Nova bomb deployment_'

"Isn't that a bit early?" asked Kiska.

"The computers were disrupted for a millisecond. The timer jumped by a few minutes, but the launcher is still locked onto the torpedo casing" Brex said.

"If the torpedo attempts to launch whilst still inside us, then we become very hot, very quick" Savali said. "If we can unlock the clamps, we should be able to launch it normally" he added.

"Kiska, abort attack run. Bring us about to course 315 – ahead full" Naomi said.

"Aye, Captain"

"Azan, contact the other ships and have them cover us as much as possible. Brex, disengage safeties. Increase power to impulse drive" Naomi issued orders rapidly, and the woman hoped she had enough time.

"Do you want me to go and release the clamps?" asked Savali.

"No, I'll go and fix it myself" Naomi said. "Bridge to transporter room – lock on my signal. Beam me directly to the torpedo bay. Azan, you have the bridge. Energise" and Naomi was taken away.

"Mr Savali, see if you can raise secondary shielding. Dump primary energy to the impulse drive. Commander Brex, help him with that. _Icheb_ to all vessels. Standby to launch Nova weapons the moment we do"

"Sir!" Delaney shouted. "Vessel dropping out of warp"

"Oh shit" Azan cursed as he read where it was coming out of warp at. He mashed his hand into the comm panel as he opened another channel. "MEZOTI – DIVE DIVE DIVE!"

#

Naomi had been able to release the first clamp easily enough, but the second clamp had been the more difficult as a locking pin had jammed. Naomi had had to phaser it out before pulling the clamp free.

'_Thirty seconds until Nova bomb is deployed_'

"Way ahead of you" Naomi muttered. "Computer, load Nova bomb into the torpedo tube. Disregard safe load speed" she said, reaching for her comm badge. "Captain to bridge. Azan, tor-" she was thrown off her feet by the force of something heavy hitting the ship. She was thrown against the bulkhead and the cut was enlarged and she gained newer injuries as well.

'_Nova deployment sequence aborted_' the computer reported. Naomi turned to see a console display indicating just that. The impact must have caused damage to the computer for it to abort the bomb's launching.

"Captain to the bridge" but nobody replied. "Bridge, torpedo room. Computer, is anybody alive on the bridge?" Naomi asked, fearing the worst.

'_Affirmative_'

"What the hell has happened…?" Naomi wondered, and ran for the doors and the corridor beyond.

#

"DAMAGE REPORT!" Mezoti shouted. The bridge of the _Castiana_ was screaming with all kinds of alarms and advisories demanding attention.

"That Cube rammed into us as it came out of warp" reported Rebi. He was stabbing at buttons with his left hand as his right arm was clearly broken in his lap. "Damage to all decks and sections. Shields are destroyed, weapons are offline, structural integrity is down to 47%, life support failing on decks 3 through 38. We have multiple hull breaches – forcefields are offline. Emergency bulkheads are not responding. Hull disintegrating! Forward sensors inoperative! Hull collapsing aftwards" he said.

'_Caution. Warp core has been compromised. Detonation in three minutes_'

"Oh, and we have a warp core breach in progress" Rebi added.

"Engine Room, this is the bridge. Shut down the warp drive" Mezoti winced as pain shot up both sides of her chest.

"_We do that, and we'll never get it going again_" came the static filled voice of an Engineer.

"Just do it" Mezoti ordered. "Bridge to Sickbay. Medical team to the bridge"

"_Unable to comply, Ma'am. We're overworked_"

"Just get somebody up here as soon as you can – priority one" Mezoti was certain that she had broken a number of her ribs, and that she had massive internal injuries. A shockwave hitting the _Castiana_ indicated that two of the Nova Bombs had been launched and detonated – one way or another. "Rebi, get me the _Icheb_"

"I'll try" he said.

"And get down to Sickbay at once. That arm needs sorting quickly"

"I'd prefer to remain at my post" the Wysantian said loyally.

"Suit yourself" Mezoti smiled – regretting it almost at once.

"_Bridge, Engine Room. We can't shut down the core. We've been able to gain another four minutes until it goes boom, but there's nothing we can do_"

#

"Naomi…!" Azan was alarmed by Naomi's appearance as she came onto the bridge.

"I'm fine" she lied. "Status report" the woman asked as the ship was pounded by more weapons fire.

"_Janeway _and_ Voyager_ managed to launch their Nova bombs on target, but the Borg just took them out without mercy. We're picking up faint distress signals, and beaming as many as we can aboard. A Cube came out of warp and rammed the _Castiana_. She's heavily damaged and we're reading multiple injuries" Azan said.

"What about us?" Naomi said, taking the spare seat at Operations.

"We've lost main shields. Secondary shields are at 25%" Brex said. "Multiple hull breaches on all decks. Transwarp Drive is offline. Main power is out to decks 2 through 19, and so on and so on" he shook his head.

"We're going to have to get out of here" Naomi said. "Kiska, bring us apart and prepare for war-"

"NAOMI!" Azan's shout was loud in her ears. "I've just run a scan over the _Castiana_. She has a Warp core breach in progress. Seven minutes until detonation" something caught his attention. "We're being hailed by Mezoti – on screen"

"_Nai_, _we've got a breach in progress. Engine room is unable to stop it for happening_" the image of Naomi's wife and the badly damaged bridge of the _Castiana_ was laced with static.

"We'll beam you aboard as quick as we can" Naomi said.

"_Without the mission completed_?" Mezoti raised a bloodied eyebrow.

"Fuck the mission" Naomi said bluntly. "We're getting out of here" but Mezoti shook her head.

"_We've got our Nova bomb still onboard. We were about to launch when we got hit. It's jammed in the tube_"

"Set your helm for a full velocity ram and abandon" Naomi said, glancing at a display counting off the remaining time.

"_Automatic helm is offline. The damage is too great for luck_"

"Oh Prophets…" Kiska breathed. The ship still trembled from impacts, and Savali returned the fire as best as he could.

"_Somebody has to stay behind_" Mezoti elaborated.

"You can't!" Naomi knew what her wife was planning to do.

"_Naomi, please don't be a spoilsport. If I take your bomb aboard as well, I can ram the complex and end this once and for all_"

"But…"

"_Naomi, listen to me please. If dying here today means that I can save the life of my wife and my friends, then it is a price I am willing to pay. What is your decision_?" she asked. Seconds stretched into hours as Naomi knew it was the only option remaining.

"Do it" she said. "We'll give you covering fire for as long as possible" and Mezoti nodded.

"_I'm ordering my crew to the transporters now_" she said, and figures moved in the swirling smoke as the crew rushed to transporters.

"Azan, use our transporters as well. Get everybody off that ship!"

"We'd have to lower our shields for that" said Brex.

"THAT WAS AN ORDER!" Naomi screamed with rage.

"Transporters energising now" Azan said. The _Icheb_ took a number of hits to the unprotected hull, but they got everybody off that was getting off.

"Kiska, lay in a course for Norcadia Prime – best speed. Stand by to engage. Mr Savali, maintain constant cover for the _Castiana_. Disregard any damage and risk to ourselves" Naomi said.

"_I'm getting under weigh now_" said Mezoti. "_I'm sorry that we had to part like this. But for what its worth – I sure as hell enjoyed every minute of our lives together_"

"Me too" Naomi said, getting to her feet and moving to the railing that ran behind her chair. The _Castiana_ plunged forwards the Unimatrix, and large sections of the hull ripped free and spun away. "Mez, I love you" the tears burned like acid down her cheeks.

"Five seconds" Delaney spoke quietly.

"_I love you too, Naomi_" Mezoti said. "_It was an honour and a privilege to be your wife and your friend. I LOVE YOUUUUU_!" and the ship plunged into the Borg station and blew apart. Massive explosions tore through the complex, and a huge subspace shockwave came towards them.

"Transwarp drive online. Nothing more then 20% power" Brex said.

"I'll take it" Naomi said. "Kiska! GO GO GO!" and the ship jumped just quickly enough to not be engulfed by the shockwave that dissipated in the ship's wake. The front of it just tipped the ship gently and took them out of Transwarp.

"The complex has been destroyed" Delaney said – his voice sounding loud on the silent bridge.

"Kiska, bring us about and take us back in – full impulse power" Naomi turned to Azan. "Stand down from Red Alert. Launch shuttles to pick up survivors. Commander Brex, begin damage checks and start repairs at once" and she turned back to see small amounts of debris swirling around.

"Approaching debris field" Kiska said.

"All stop" Naomi said. "Commander Kiska, you will hold this position at station keeping until further notice. Chief Brex, you may go down to Engineering. Commander Savali, you have the bridge. Azan, come with me" and with that Naomi left shakily for Sickbay.

#

"Where is the Doctor?" Naomi asked as she entered Sickbay.

"He is busy" said a nurse. "You'll have to wait your turn" and then glanced back to see her Captain boring through him with a stare.

"Then you treat me" Naomi said. A chill ran through the nurse as he hurried to comply with the order. The Sickbay was full and overflowing with wounded, and they were using the Holodecks as emergency wards. It was just good chance that most of the medical teams from the other ships had been beamed aboard. "Azan, find Rebi and bring him to the Doctor's office" Naomi said.

"Right" and he went away to find his twin.

"Have you any pain in your chest?" asked the nurse.

"Left upper side feels sore" Naomi said. "Everything hurts" she added.

"We're running low on supplies of medical equipment" the nurse said. "I'm afraid I can't give you a strong painkiller. I'm going to deal with this head wound first, but you're going to have to see the Doctor to get those ribs sorted out. I'm picking up some minor internal organ damage, and concussion. As I say" the nurse continued as he worked, "We've not got many painkillers left" and Naomi told him to give her a weak dose and save it for those who needed it most.

"Might be able to hurt you with that" she said. "Captain to Bridge"

"_Bridge_" came Savali's voice.

"Get a party down to the shuttles and strip the shuttles of the medkits. Get them up to Sickbay at once"

"_Aye, Captain_"

"We need another surgeon" the nurse said offhandedly. "I've never seen a Doctor move so fast – human or hologram"

"Did we get everything sent here before we set off?" Naomi asked, painkillers kicking in at long last.

"I think so" the nurse said, packing up the precious equipment.

"Computer, activate Emergency Medical Holographic Program Mark II" and patterns of light swirled to form the Mark II.

"Please state the nat-" he looked around. "Never mind" he said, and set to work to save lives.

"You can go" Naomi said as Azan came back with his brother.

"Aye, Captain" and the nurse went to aid the Mark II.

"She's gone" Rebi said. It was more of a statement of fact then anything else.

"I know" Naomi said, fresh tears running down her face as she pictured her wife ploughing into Borg station – sacrificing her life so the mission could be completed. "I expect her to walk through those doors or call us" she added.

"After everything that we went through…" Azan shook his head.

"I think she planned to go down with the ship" Rebi said.

"She was right" Naomi sobbed. "The ship would never have made it without somebody at the helm, and Mez was never one to do something dangerous without doing it herself – she'd never risk the crew"

"I suppose the debt is repaid" Azan said.

"What debt?"

"Mezoti always thought she owed a debt to the crew of _Voyager_ for saving her from the Borg. She made sure that you lived and weren't taken by the Borg" Rebi explained.

"What has happened?" asked a voice. The Doctor had come into his office to find the trio crying openly and knew something was wrong.

"Mezoti's dead, Doctor" Naomi said – sending her into fresh sobs and tears. Azan explained what had happened, and the Doctor was so shock he actually deactivated himself.

#

In the end, over a quarter of the people who set out on the mission died, and they were placed in a cargo bay that was set to freezing levels in order to preserve the bodies. Many of the survivors were critically injured, and would not last the journey home without swift treatment. The damage to the ship was extensive, and it was a miracle that some parts of the ship were operable. Rebuilding and repairing would have been too great a task for Brex and his staff, but the survivors of the _Voyager_ and _Janeway_ aided efforts to get them capable of going home. The _Icheb_ had remained on station for three days after the assault, but Naomi knew she was going to have to leave. As she was on her way to the bridge, Azan contacted her to announce that he had located a body in the flotsam. Upon closer inspection, it was Mezoti's. The remaining members of the '_Voyager_ Six' took a shuttle out to recover their dead friend.

"Captain on deck"

"As you were" Naomi said. "Status report"

"We've patched the hull for the time being, but we're going to need to put in for more extensive repairs" Brex said.

"Would they last until we got back to the Alpha Quadrant?" Azan asked.

"No, Sir" said Brex. "Maybe if I had more people then I could, but the repairs wouldn't last two months" and Naomi nodded to herself.

"Then we're going to Plan B" she said. "Kiska, plot us a course for Norcadia Prime –Transwarp speed"

"Aye, Captain" Kiska worked her still damaged helm. "Course plotted and laid in" she reported.

"Engage" and with Naomi's order, they left the scene of so much death.

"Transwarp drive is working within normal parameters" Azan said.

"We're at 50% and holding" Kiska said.

"Increase to maximum" Naomi said.

"Captain, our hull will not stand that amount of stress for so long a time" Brex warned her.

"That was an order, Kiska" Naomi said. "Full speed ahead" and the Bajoran nodded.

"Captain, you are emotionally compromised by the events of your wife's death" Brex said. "You are putting the lives of everybody on this ship at risk simply because you can not get over the facts" and a deathly silence came over the battered bridge.

"Commander Brex, you have five seconds to get off my bridge" Naomi kept looking at the viewscreen.

"Captain Wildman, under Starfleet regulations, I declare that you are emotionally compromised. I hereby relieve you of command" Brex said.

"Solian Brex" Naomi said with rage laced into every word she spoke, "You deliberately disobeyed your Captain's orders not once but five times during critical situations. Without question you are unfit to serve in Starfleet. I suspend your commission for the remainder of our voyage. I will not try you, as I am not capable of judging you fairly. I have already concluded you should be hanged! I will, however, recommend a court-martial on our return, and I will testify against you. For the remainder of our voyage you are forbidden to wear the uniform or to associate with me or any officer. You will be confined to quarters with a guard posted on your door. Commander Azan. Commander Rebi. Get this bastard off my bridge" Naomi watched as they grabbed the Bolian and took him to his cabin.

"Permission to speak freely?" Kiska asked.

"Yes?"

"You enjoyed that"

"Damned right I did" Naomi said as she went for the ready room. "Lomar, you have the conn. Emotionally compromised my ass" and the doors shut behind her.

#

The trip to Norcadia passed off quickly, and _Icheb_ put in for emergency repairs in order for it to get home. The injured were treated at hospitals all over the planet, but they were in good hands as nobody wanted to piss off Naomi or her friends. The families of those lost originally aboard _Castiana_ were grateful for what the crew did with the bodies of their loved ones. Naomi found a quiet spot in a nature reserve, and arranged with the Norcadian government to have the place almost to herself, the twins and the Doctor. When she was not on the planet talking or reflecting on stuff, Naomi spent time in the makeshift morgue with Mezoti's body in a status pod. Engineering teams were busy making status pods as the ship was not capable of sustaining nearly a thousand people on such a long journey. The survivors picked up from the _Voyager_ and _Janeway_ would go into it along with those not capable of being treated in Sickbay or the Norcadian hospitals.

"Naomi…?" Rebi came inside his friend's quarters.

"Yeah?" Naomi was sat on the bed holding one of Mezoti's favourite dresses. Tears ran down her cheeks, and Rebi could only remember her being like this three times before - the death of her mother, the death of her father and the death of Icheb. "Oh, hi there, Rebi" she said, carefully putting the dress on a coat hook and back in the wardrobe. "Not got long to go on that scar of yours" she noted, and Rebi nodded in agreement. The scar ran along his face and down the back of his neck – the result of console imbedding into his body and the operations needed later to remove them.

"The Doctor says it should fade in a few weeks" he said. "Azan asked me to let you know we're 'packed up and ready to leave' as he puts it" Naomi nodded and put on her uniform jacket.

"Its going to be dammed odd not seeing Mezoti" she spoke quietly. "Keep thinking she is going to walk through the door, or give me a call on the comm system" the pair left for the turbolift.

#

"Captain on the bridge!" a crewman shouted.

"As you were" said Naomi, waving people back to their posts as she stepped out the turbolift. Azan politely stood from the centre seat and moved to Operations. Kiska was at helm, Savali was at the Tactical station whilst Rebi would handle Engineering matters from the bridge. Only the science station was left unattended. "All hands, rig for departure"

"All stations rigged for departure" Azan said.

"We're good to go" Rebi said.

"Alright then" Naomi could feel the throbbing of the powerful engines far below in Engineering. "Azan, contact Norcadian departure control. Request permission to get under weigh" she said to her friend.

"Control has cleared us" Azan replied.

"Clear all moorings" Naomi said. "Weighing port gates from this mark"

"All moorings cleared" Azan said.

"Aft thrusters" Kiska said.

"Forget that" Naomi said. "Throttle up to full impulse, but don't engage the drive. When we're about to burst, let her go"

"Aye, Captain" Kiska assumed Naomi was showing off that even a damaged starship was capable of pulling off a trick or two. _Icheb_ shot out of the dock like a ferret up a drainpipe, and multiple caution and warning alarms sounded on the various stations.

"Mezoti would have loved that" Naomi said.

"I am sure she does…" Rebi said.

"Thanks, Rebi" Naomi nodded in his direction. "Alright people, lets get under weigh. Kiska, plot us a course for Voyager Station – maximum Transwarp" and the helm officer nodded and worked her controls with practiced ease.

"Course set"

"All decks report secured for Transwarp" Rebi said.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Lomar?" Naomi gestured towards the front of the bridge. "Take us home" and _Icheb_ started her homeward voyage. "Status report" and there was a pause as all the stations checked readouts before replying.

"Ship appears to be alright" said Rebi. "Don't you worry, Naomi" he continued.

"We'll get the ship home if we have to get out and push" his twin finished.

"Let's hope it doesn't come down to that" Naomi smiled for one of the few times since her wife's death "Alright, people – this is what we do. We'll run the bridge and non essential systems on automatic and skeleton staffs were possible. Even with the repairs we've got done in drydock, life support won't get us all the way back to Earth. It is my intention to make our way to Voyager Station and carry out more repairs and offload the wounded there. When we are close enough for timings to work out right, we'll make a brief drop out of Transwarp and send a subspace message requesting help for us. Then we'll continue on our way" Naomi looked around at her bridge crew. "You may leave the bridge if you wish so" but nobody did so.

"Your orders?" Kiska asked.

"Maintain course and speed" Naomi settled into her chair and counted down the hours until she was off duty. Once she was, she was going with the twins to plough through that case of Romulan Ale that she and Mezoti had been saving for their wedding anniversary.

"Aye"

"Maintain course and speed" Naomi repeated. "Steady as she goes" she murmured.


	9. Coming Home

**Coming Home**

It had been a month and a half since Mezoti had given up her life to save that of Naomi and complete the mission. It was only through the help of her friends that Naomi didn't turn into a hermit. The woman sometimes thought that it was only that small bunch of friends and duty that kept her going some days.

"Hello, Miss Wildman" the Doctor said – his tone the same as if it were a Sunday on the old _Voyager_ back when she was a kid.

"Hey" Naomi sat down then stood back up again. The hologram frowned in confusion at Naomi's actions.

"Is there something I can do for you?" he asked.

"Only if you're not busy" Naomi said. "But first, would you mind clearing the Sickbay for a moment?" the Doctor was puzzled but did as was asked.

"So, Miss Wildman, what is it that you are worried about?"

"I'm late" she replied.

"I don't think you have an appointment" the Doctor checked the computer

"I need you to scan me for a parasite" Naomi said.

"Parasite?" the Doctor became alarmed, but Naomi pointed to her stomach.

"There"

"Oh"

#

"So, what's the news, Doctor?"

"Yes"

"You mean…?"

"Oh, most certainly…"

#

Despite not having anything to do with the actual insemination, Azan and Rebi could be seen for three days after Naomi's private announcement to them with huge grins. When Naomi wasn't looking, they consulted the database for everything to do with Godparenting.

"What the hell was that?" Naomi said. A slight tremor had knocked her into the wall, and she could tell that the ship had come to a halt.

"_Captain Wildman, please report to the bridge_" Rebi said.

"Bridge, this is the Captain. What's going on there?" Naomi asked.

"_We had some problems with the Transwarp drive. We figured we were close enough to send a message, so we dropped out here to investigate_"

"I'm on my way up. Naomi, out"

#

"Position report" Naomi spoke before the doors of the turbolift had fully opened.

"Our position is about four light years from the Tevron system" Azan said. "Engineering reports Transwarp drive back online in half an hour. A few of the wires overheated, and they are replacing them now" he added.

"Helm set course for Voyager Station – best possible speed" Naomi said. "Azan, broadcast this message on all Starfleet frequencies and emergency rescue channels. Message follows: _USS Icheb_, returned to Alpha Quadrant, requests immediate assistance. Dead and injured aboard. Must have immediate medical and engineering aid. Add our position and destination to the end of that" and Azan nodded.

"Aye, Aye, Captain" he replied, and Naomi let it slip for a change. "Message away"

"Helm – engage" and _Icheb_ jumped to warp. "Now if anybody wants me, I'll be in the ready room" and Naomi left to kick off her boots and enjoy a cup of hot coffee. She had her own secret stash hidden away that could be warmed up using a phaser.

# # # # #

"Been a while since we were last here" Rebi said, leaning over the Engineering console and resting on his elbows.

"Too long" Azan added.

"A miracle that we ever got here" Naomi said. Voyager Station glittered on the edge of visual range, and Naomi had had the view fed to screens all over _Icheb_.

"Mezoti would have loved it" Rebi said.

"Oh, but undoubtedly" his twin replied.

"She'd have liked the news I have even more" Naomi said to the pair. A soft chime played on Azan's console.

"We are being hailed" he said.

"On screen" Naomi said.

"_Captain Wildman_" Admiral Hoshi nodded. "_It is good to see you again. I assume that your mission was a success?_"

"We've still got to get home, Admiral, but the Borg have been completely annihilated" Naomi said. "We've taken heavy losses and damage in both manpower and equipment. I'd like it if you could alert the medical teams to be ready to receive the wounded"

"_Understood_" he gestured to somebody offscreen. "_Tell me, Captain. Where are _Voyager _and_ Janeway?" Hoshi asked.

"I regret to report they were lost with nearly all hands, Sir" Naomi said. "It'll all be in my report, Admiral. With your permission, I'd like to get ready for docking now"

"_I'll meet you at the Upper Pylon_" Hoshi said, and then vanished from the screen.

"Bridge to Sickbay"

"_Sickbay_"

"Doctor, we're a few minutes from docking. Are you ready to transport your patients to the station?" Azan said.

"_Ready to beam over the minute we dock_" said the Doctor.

"Understood. Bridge, out"

"Helm, prepare for docking" Naomi ordered.

"Aye" the Ensign replied. Over the following ten minutes, the tired ship inched to the protectiveness of the space station and the longer lasting repairs it needed in order to get home.

"Standby to engage capture latches" Rebi ordered.

"Ready" a crewman called out. The ship drifted between two pylons and docked at Upper Pylon 3, and the offloading of the wounded began at once.

"Well done on a successful docking, everybody" Naomi rose out of the centre seat. Azan, Rebi, you're with me. Ensign, you have the bridge" and the three departed for the airlock.

# # # # #

"Permission to come aboard, Ma'am?" Hoshi asked.

"Permission granted" Naomi replied. "Welcome aboard, Admiral" she added. "I'm sorry we didn't have a better reception committee for you, but nearly everybody else is engaged on repairs" and Hoshi waved her down.

"That is completely understandable, Captain" he said. "Tell me, where is your wife? Can I assume she is looking after the bridge?" and then the Admiral frowned and became confused by the looks shared by the trio.

"Admiral" Rebi said. "Mezoti was killed in the attack on Unimatrix Zero One. She rammed her ship into the complex as it was the only way to complete the mission" he went on.

"We have to talk, Sir" Naomi led the way to the mess hall which had been emptied and cleaned up for the informal debriefing. The Doctor would join them once he had finished his duties to the sick and injured first

#

"Bloody hell" Hoshi said. He had read the brief report and then listened to Naomi, Azan, Rebi and the Doctor's input. He was going to look forward to the full report and the debriefing that was certain to come. "Captain, it may come as a little bit of a comfort to you or not, but your wife was promoted to Captain during your mission. She was slated to be given command of the _Seven of Nine_ after you had got back. She would have made a fine Captain – I'm only sorry she never knew" Hoshi said. A moment later, the small tree in the corner of the mess hall rustled its leaves.

"She knows, Admiral" Naomi said with a warm smile. A look of understanding crossed the faces of her friends. "She knows" and Hoshi took a few seconds to realise.

"Captain, may I ask what your intentions are?" he asked.

"I'm going to complete some repairs here, and then finish the mission" Naomi said.

"The mission is over with" Hoshi said. "You've got your ship and crew home" but Naomi disagreed.

"Before the attack, I promised Mez that I'd get the ship all the way home" she said. "I intend to fulfil that promise. Besides, Utopia has much more extensive repair facilities, and we're in bad need of a refit" and Hoshi just gave in to the determination of the woman.

"When are you going?" he asked.

"Twenty four hours" Naomi replied. "Transwarp with parts of the hull open is not conductive to good starship operations. We're patching the hull now as best as we can. The temporary repairs made at Norcadia Prime just didn't cut it at all. We'll stay long enough to complete that and then continue inbound to Utopia Planetia" and they talked for two more hours before Hoshi had to leave for the station and a fast transport back to Earth.

#

"We've patched the hull together to last until Utopia Planetia" Azan said.

"All wounded personnel have been evacuated to the stations or taken to other facilities" the Doctor said.

"Then lets kick this pig" Naomi said. "Voyager Station, this is the _Icheb_. Requesting permission to depart"

"_Permission granted, _Icheb_. Bon Voyage, 73, and good luck_"

"Thanks, station. _Icheb_, out" Naomi smiled at Boender's addition to the standard goodbye. He still enjoyed listening to encrypted messages from the past, and had thought about producing a monthly subspace newsletter. He had escaped the destruction of the _Honour_ by having been evacuated to a medical ship before the ship's loss. Naomi and the twins were interested, and mentioned that they would sign up to it when it got published.

"Prepare to cast off" Azan said.

"All airlocks secured" Rebi added.

"Mezoti, give me a scan of the area please. Is anything in our way?" Naomi waited, then remembered she wasn't getting the reply. "Forget it. Release docking clamps. Port thrusters at one half. Ease us away from the pylon" and slowly they cleared the thing. "One half impulse until we have cleared the station, then set course for Utopia Planetia – Warp 6" she ordered. Naomi was in no great hurry to get back, and had decided to cruise home.

"We have cleared the station" Rebi said.

"Very well" Naomi said. "Helm, engage" and _Icheb_ started the last leg of her homeward journey.

"Holding steady on course 312 mark 111" the Ensign at the helm reported. Kiska had been relieved of duty by the Doctor and sent off the ship for much needed rest. He would have relieved Naomi from duty as well, but the woman had threatened to remove the holographic penis from his subroutines if he did so.

"Steady as she goes, Helm. Steady as she goes…" Naomi said.

#

After months at Transwarp, going at normal Warp seemed like a walking pace. It gave Naomi enough time to think about what she would do after _Icheb_ docked. One thing she had to do was visit Gratis in the Starfleet prison on Earth and personally inform her of her daughter's death, and the fact she was going to be a grandparent to a hybrid child – one with Norcadian, Human and Ktarian genes in its makeup.

"_Bridge to Captain_"

"If that isn't God telling me about my upcoming leave, you can go away" Naomi said.

"_Captain, we're picking up a distress call… We think…_" Savali said from the bridge.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Naomi.

"_Its heavily distorted, Captain. Could be an echo and everything is alright, or it could be a genuine call for help_" Savali said.

"Distance?"

"_Two light years_"

"Change course to intercept that bearing and go to maximum warp" Naomi said. "We're on our way. Captain, out" and she and the twins left for the bridge while the Doctor headed for Sickbay.

#

"Captain" Savali noted Naomi's arrival. "We've been able to clear up that call"

"Lets hear it"

"_This is the mixed transport vessel _Adams_. We are under attack from Klingon vessels. We have lost main power, and our shields have almost gone. If anybody can hear us, please assist us_"

"We've not heard from them anymore, but their comm system might have been damaged" Savali said.

"Its not like the Klingons to attack like that" mused Naomi. "Not after the Dominion War and everything else as well" she added.

"Coming up on location" the officer at helm said.

"Yellow Alert. Standby on the weapons. Bring us out of warp" Naomi said, and then watched the stars stretch as they returned to normal space. "Azan?"

"I'm reading debris consistent with a Federation designed transport" he said. "However, I do not read enough of it to make the assumption that it was destroyed. I am unce- One moment… Naomi, I am reading traces of impulse engines consistent of Klingon types. I am picking up a faint tractor beam as well. The trail leads to the moon of the gas giant"

"Take us there – Warp 3" and Naomi's order took the ship to the indicated location in seconds. On the screen, two Birds of Prey flanked a Vorcha class cruiser which had a transport ship in a tractor beam. The bridge crew could see the damage to the hull from weapons fire. "Red Alert! All hands to Battlestations. Azan, hail the Vorcha. Order them to release the transport or we will fire upon them"

"Attention Klingon vessels. This is the _USS_ _Icheb_. You are ordered to stand down your weapons and release the tractor beam. Failure to comply will result in hostile action taken against you. You have one minute to decide" and he muted the channel.

"Oh, Azan" Naomi said in mock dreamy voice. "I love it when you're angry"

"Sorry, Naomi… I'm spoken for" Azan raised an eyebrow smiled and then looked back at his console. "Their minute is up" he announced after a few seconds.

"Lock the forward phasers onto Vorcha, and target the Birds of Prey with disrupters" Naomi said to Savali. "Helm, standby for combat manoeuvres" she added.

"Aye, Sir"

"_Sir? I have a sex change and nobody told me about it_?" she whispered to the twins. Both of them laughed silently at the terrified Ensign at the helm.

"The Bird of Prey to starboard is moving away from the transport and is-" Azan was cut off by the Klingon vessel firing on them.

"All right, let them have it" Naomi said. "Target weapons, shields and engines. Fire when ready" and Savali fired the depleted weapons of the ship at the Bird of Prey. Its shields flickered, died and allowed him to strike with pin point accuracy and take out the engines.

"The ship has been disabled" said Azan, running a scan over it.

"Hail the Vorcha, and lock a full spread of torpedoes on it for good measure" Naomi said.

"Torpedoes locked" Savali said.

"Channel open" Azan said. Rebi was working on something that Naomi had sent to his workstation.

"This is Captain Naomi Wildman of the _USS Icheb_ to Klingon vessels. If you do not release the tractor beam and surrender, you will be destroyed"

"_Go to hell_" a human voice replied, then the channel was closed from their end.

"Merceneries" Savali said with disgust.

"I thought you wanted to be a pirate, Felix" Naomi said.

"Aye, with a sword and a woman" Savali said. "Looting and plundering on the high seas, and then retiring to some desert island with a wanton lassie"

"Presumably one going by the name of Kiska Lomar" Rebi said dryly from the Engineering station.

"We were that obvious?" Savali said.

"So much that whenever you want into her quarters, the Captain issued ear muffs to everyone on Deck 4" Azan said. "Naomi, the Vorcha has released the tractor and is coming about. Shields are up – weapons charged"

"Helm, evasive manoeuvres!" Naomi ordered.

"Evasive, Aye" and the Ensign swung the ship round in time to avoid a barrage of torpedoes.

"Mr Savali, our conduct has been most exact. Target their weapons and engines. Cripple the Vorcha, and be ready to take on the other Bird of Prey" Naomi looked at the screen as the _Icheb_ came around for an attack run.

"Firing" and the phasers lashed out at the Vorcha which lurched off course.

"Rebi, tractor her now" Azan said, issuing the order before Naomi could see the chance.

"Got her" Rebi said in triumph. Savali knocked out the engines and disabled the weapons on the Vorcha.

"Captain, the other Bird of Prey is signalling that it is surrendering. They are standing down…" Azan said.

"Rebi, form a couple of boarding parties and take over the ships. Beam the crews over to the brig and cargo bays" and Rebi nodded at Naomi and went to take care of the task. "Azan, hail the _Adams_" but he replied that the comm system was still offline.

"I am reading multiple injuries" he detailed the sensor sweep he had just run over the crippled transport. "Her hull integrity is down to 27%. I think they weakened her on purpose so they wouldn't put up a fight during boarding" Azan said.

"Away the rescue parties" Naomi said. "Only waited thirty odd years for that order…" she added. "Get the ship's hull back up to something more manageable, and find out what they were carrying as cargo. You don't attack something this big without a big reward for the big risk" and Azan nodded.

"I will comply" and left the bridge.

"Crewman, take over at Operations" Naomi pointed at a Vulcan. "Dispatch a subspace message to Starbase 375 and request that another vessel come to assist us"

"Aye, Captain"

"Bridge to Engineering"

"_Engineering_"

"Do we have any paint in ship's supplies?" Naomi asked.

"_A few tins, Captain. May I ask why?_" the voice of the Acting Chief said.

"You can certainly ask…" Naomi said. "Have a couple of tins taken to transporter room 2. Bridge, out. Mr Savali, I'm going out for a walk. You have the bridge" and Naomi left the bridge with people wondering what she was doing. Had the strain finally got to her?

#

It turned out that the _Adams_ had been carrying medical supplies to a colony, and it was made up of expensive and hard to manufacture compounds. The _Sovereign_ arrived to take charge of the three captured vessels, and to oversee the final repairs to the _Adams_. All of them would return to Starbase 375 later on. Naomi had spent over two hours in an EVA suit on the hull, but nobody knew what she was doing with tins of black hull paint – the kind used in touching up the registry numbers after battle. The twins and the Doctor were told, and the twins had set to work making something in the ship's lab.

"Azan, signal the _Sovereign_ that we are getting under weigh. Lieutenant, set course for Earth – Warp 6.5"

"Message sent" Azan said.

"Course plotted and laid in"

"Engage" and the _Icheb_ jumped to warp and resumed its passage back home.

#

Naomi wondered what she would do after docking back in drydock. This was one hell of a shakedown cruise for sure, and Naomi had not even been supposed to be her first Captain. One thing for certain was the upcoming leave for all crew members of the _Icheb_, and those survivors from the _Voyager_ and _Janeway_ picked up. Admiral Hoshi had informed her that, after long leave, Naomi and her entire crew had their choice of assignments. On the way back from Voyager Station, Naomi spent time finishing the commendations for her crew, and gave out numerous recommendations for the awarding of medals. There was also the situation regarding Brex, and Hoshi had persuaded her to not press for the death penalty. Instead, Brex would be given a Court Martial, demoted in rank and assigned duty at the academy.

"_Bridge to Captain_"

"Captain here"

"_We're ten minutes away from the edge of the Solar System_" Azan said.

"Understood" Naomi replied. "I'm on my way. Naomi, out" and she went for the turbolift. She would be partly glad to get off the ship as the death of Mezoti was still too recent for her to deal with right now.

#

A small bundle of chips overheated, causing control to a certain part of the ship to be lost.

#

"CAPTAIN ON THE BRIDGE!" Azan announced loudly, and he, Rebi, the Doctor and the rest of the bridge crew snapped to attention. They knew well the significance of the event, and they wanted to do things as they should be. They had taken the stations to which they were used to: Rebi at Engineering, the Doctor was at the aft consoles but Azan was standing in front of the Captain's chair however.

"As you were" Naomi said. "Status report" she asked him.

"We are proceeding on course to Spacedock. Docking is expected to take place at 14:30 this afternoon. Warp and Impulse are working at optimum levels. All systems and all stations show a green board" he said.

"I relieve you"

"I am relieved" Azan replied formally. He took his station at Ops and checked the readouts for anything amiss.

"Helm, status" Naomi said.

"Holding steady on course 185 mark 96. Speed is Warp 9.99" the Lieutenant said. Naomi had allowed a sudden burst of speed towards the end of the trip so they could 'have a joyride' of sorts.

"Very well. Bring us-" Naomi was cut off as alarms sounded on the Operations, Helm and Engineering stations.

"Oh oh" Rebi said.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Naomi.

"Naomi, I'm reading failure of navigational systems" Rebi said.

"Well, we're home now" Naomi said. "We'll pilot using dead reckoning" but Azan shook his head.

"What Rebi means" he said, "Is that we've got no way to stop the ship. We've lost control to our impulse engines. Computer has it so that we drop out of warp and then run at full impulse"

"We'll use thrusters to slow us down" Naomi said.

"We can't" Lost said from the helm. "Our thrusters are not capable of slowing us down from that speed"

"Bring us out of warp now" Naomi ordered. "Buy us some more time" and hit the intraship channel on her console. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. All hands to abandon ship. I repeat – Abandon ship. This is no drill. Abandon Ship. Abandon Ship – All hands to Abandon Ship" and the bridge emptied of everybody except Naomi and the twins. "I ordered you to abandon ship"

"We're staying" Azan said.

"You can court martial us if we live" said Rebi.

"Alright then – stay if you want. Just don't complain to me if you both die" Naomi shook her head. "Azan, get down to Engineering. Get working on cutting off fuel to the impulse engines. We've got to stop them somehow"

"Right" and he left the bridge.

"Rebi, take the helm. Standby on thrusters to budge us this way and that" Naomi went to her wife's old station.

"Whats the plan?" Rebi asked, noting the escape pods falling rapidly behind on his scopes.

"We're going to use the planets as braking points" Naomi said. "By going around them the wrong way, we might be able to slow down"

"Reverse slingshot" Rebi grasped the idea at once.

"Coming up on Neptune" Naomi said. "In twelve seconds, give me a seven second burst from the port bow thrusters"

"Aye"

"Steady… steady… NOW!" and Rebi hit the button at Naomi's shout. Slowly, but surely, the saucer section slipped round to Starboard and moved to the right of Neptune.

"Compensating" and Rebi brought the ship in one direction.

"Two second burst from the starboard thrusters" Naomi said, looking at the data on the sensor readouts. The little burst swung them around the planet in a direct that brought their speed down by a lot. Once they had passed the planet though, it started to creep back up again.

"_Azan to Naomi_"

"Go ahead"

"_I have found the problem with the impulse drive. One of the control units has burned out. Repairs will take hours to complete_"

"We don't have that amount of time" Naomi said. "Can you shut down the fuel pumps manually?" she asked.

"_Not likely_" he replied. "_However, there is another option_"

"What is it?"

"_I can close the fuel valves in the feeder lines. The pressure will build up behind the valves and eventually burst. Fuel would be stopped entering the reaction pods, and impulse drive would cease to operate_"

"I'll take it" Naomi said to her friend.

"_There is a problem, however_"

"What?"

"_The fuel valves have degraded badly. Most likely due to damage sustained in battle, and from poor quality fuel taken on at Norcadia Prime. I will be unable to close the valves more then three quarters_"

"Will that be enough?"

"_I do not know_"

"Do it" Naomi said. "We'll call for a tow if we need it"

"_Understood. Azan, out_"

"Rebi, be ready for a twenty second burn from the port stern thrusters and a ten second burn from the starboard fore"

"Ready"

"Got a minute to wait" Naomi said, checking her display panels and glancing at the approaching ball of gas and rock that made up Uranus. "Stand by… stand by… and now!"

"Firing" Rebi deftly brought the ship round the planet and got the ship in one direction once again.

"_Engineering to bridge_"

"Naomi"

"_The fuel valves are closed as far as they will go_" said Azan. "_Pressure will build up until the line blows out_"

"How long?"

"_One minute and thirty seconds_"

"Right" Naomi acknowledged. "Get back to the bridge. Naomi, out. Rebi, stand by to fire the forward thrusters at full power. Forget about any warnings that you might get – we're done with the engines for now"

"Understood" a couple of seconds later, and the impulse fuel lines over pressurised and burst – cutting the power to the impulse reactor pods and taking the drives offline. "Firing thrusters…" Rebi said as Azan returned to the bridge.

"Good work" Naomi said, noting his arrival.

"Thank you" Azan said, taking Operations and running a sensor scan on the damaged sections. "I am reading massive contamination to the sections around the burst valve. We shall be able to get the drive back online using the back up feed lines" he told his friend.

"Very well" Naomi said.

"Now at all stop" Rebi said.

"Cheers, Rebi. Computer, open a channel to Starfleet Command – priority one"

"_Channel open_"

"Starfleet Command, this is Captain Wildman of the _USS Icheb_. We have suffered massive engineering failure. We require immediate assistance" Naomi looked around at both of her friends. "Gentlemen – welcome home"


	10. Going On…

**Going On…**

Some of the _Icheb_'s crew returned to the ship, and Naomi stepped onto the bridge to find her entire bridge team had assumed stations. The back up fuel feed to the impulse drive was damaged from battle, but it would last until they got into the protectiveness of drydock.

"Rebi, beam the item from cargo bay two onto the hull and engage clamps. Helm, adjust heading to 180 mark 0. One quarter impulse" Naomi ordered.

"Energising now" Rebi said as the Helm altered the _Icheb_'s course slightly.

"I am reading a number of shuttles and liners coming to meet us" said Azan.

"They'll love what I've made" Naomi said. What Naomi had done, knowing that the mission was now complete, and the ship returning to base, was to make a large Jolly Roger and mount it on the aft end of bridge module. She had also spent time painting a picture of each of the Cubes, Spheres, Diamonds and other vessels they had destroyed on the sides of the saucer section such as the Norcadian vessels and the Klingon vessels used by the pirates. Naomi had told Admiral Hoshi, and he had approved of the idea and granted the request. He, too, knew of the custom submarines did in the Royal Navy during World War 2 – raising the Jolly Roger every time they came home after a successful patrol. The Royal Air Force also did something like that on their planes.

"Approaching dock" Azan said. It loomed large on the screen in front of them.

"Secure impulse drive" Naomi said. "Lieutenant Lost, I relieve you" and Naomi took the helm herself – her now standard custom when a ship under her command came home after a lengthy voyage. "Stand by to dock" she ordered.

"All decks ready" Rebi replied. _Icheb_ went alongside the dock, came about and moved toward the waiting Engineering teams.

"Moving in" Naomi muttered. She took the ship into the protective lattice gridwork of the drydock, and cut the thrusters after a quick burst to brake them to a stop. "Standby mooring lines fore and aft" Naomi ordered.

"Mooring lines ready" Rebi said.

"All hands, this is the bridge. Standby for docking" Azan called over the ship.

"And… lock on" Naomi said, watching as the last shred of energy brought them to a dead halt in the middle of the drydock. It was a spectacular piece of Helmsmanship, and not many people could do that on dead reckoning. "Congratulations, everybody" she said. "Secure main systems, and place main power on standby mode. Attention all hands, this is the Captain. You may begin disembarkation in one hour. Begin Post Docking checks, and send log them for the drydock team. I just want to thank you all for what you've done, and be assured that the efforts of yourselves, and those we lost and left behind, will not be forgotten. Captain, out" Naomi stood from the helm. "Lieutenant, you have the bridge. Begin transfer of all logs, mission profiles and repair lists. Once you've done all that, and you've turned the ship over to the drydock crews, you may go ashore"

"Aye, Captain"

"Felix, you should leave now as Lomar is waiting by the docking bay. Azan, Rebi, Doctor, you're with me" Naomi said, stepping into the turbolift and leaving the bridge for the last time.

#

**Two Months Later**

Naomi spent some of the leave with the twins, but spent a week with Saghi who had recovered from her injuries sustained during the solo away team she had been on. The rest of the leave was spent relaxing at home, but it still felt as if Mezoti would come round the corner and demand sex with the line 'Resistance is futile' – a tactic she enjoyed using. Gratis had been informed of her daughter's death, the fact she would become a grandparent and the fact she would never see the child.

The funeral service for Mezoti had been attended by the remaining members of the '_Voyager_ Six', Icheb's senior staff, survivors from her brief command as well as officers and enlisted that had come to respect her. Her ashes were placed into the _Voyager_ memorial - contained in a decorative urn – in order that she might spend eternity with her former shipmates. Mezoti's funeral had been the last one after the burials of the dead that they had brought back with them, but the entire Federation watched it. The Klingons and the Romulans had sent official parties to represent their Empires out of respect for everything she had done.

#

"Finally, Captain Wildman" Admiral Hoshi said. "We come to the big finale" and Naomi shifted in her seat.

"Yes, Captain" the Federation President said. "Tell us about the engagement" he ordered.

"Yes, Sir" Naomi replied. "We dropped out of Transwarp space a day away at Warp 8. I didn't want to take the chance that the Borg would pick us up when we got to Unimatrix Zero One. We conducted low level scans of the entire area, and discovered a Mass Detector on the west side of the station. It would have picked us up and alert the Borg the moment we got within range. I held a conference of the fleet's senior officers and came up with the idea of using a probe as a relay to beam a small team inside the complex, disable the detector and then go EVA and return using modified probes"

"What do you mean by that?" asked a nameless Captain.

"Captain Montoya of the _Voyager_ came up with the idea of using modified probes to return the team without being picked up by Borg sensors" Naomi explained. "The probes were stripped of most of their equipment, given extra oxygen tanks, fitted with connection hoses and external control panels installed to allow operation of the probe from the outside"

"You mean to say that the team returned sitting on the top of probes?" the President said with wide eyed wonder.

"Yes, Sir" Naomi told him. "It was the best option with the lowest risk"

"Very well" he nodded. "Please continue"

"Aye, Sir. When the team had been returned, we finalised plans for the attack. At 09:17, we started moving in for the assault. Given the fact we needed seven minutes to arm the Nova Bomb, I ordered the arming of the bomb in the nine minutes before we arrived on target. The Borg picked us up after a while, and they moved to intercept the fleet. We continued firing in a varied attack pattern program. They concentrated the fire on _Voyager_ and so I gave the order to pass between two cubes and fire side torpedo launchers"

"Broadsided the beggars!" a British sounding Admiral said with a slap of his thigh. "I love it"

"Totally spiffing" said another.

"Yes, Sir" Naomi said with a smile. "All this time, all ships flooded the area with high intensity particles to stop the use of Transwarp drive. This prevented the Borg from bringing in more vessels. We took quite a bit of damage, and the computer elected to fire our Nova Bomb before it was loaded into the tube. I went and fixed the problem myself, but something happened that was outside my control" Naomi's expression hardened.

"If you want to take a moment…" said the President, but Naomi shook her head and pressed on.

"I returned to the bridge to find out that a Borg Cube dropped out of warp right in front of the _Castiana_ – hitting her in the forward sections. The Borg ship was destroyed, but the _Castiana_ suffered enough damage to cause a warp core breach. There was nothing they could do to stop it, so Mezoti… sorry… _Captain_ Wildman ordered her crew to abandon ship. Her bomb had been launched at the same time that the Cube rammed them, and was jammed in the tube with the timer running. An attempt was made at setting the helm to ram the Unimatrix, but auto navigation was offline, and the ship was badly damaged to leave to chance. Mez… She seemed alright by what she had to do, and asked permission to ram the station herself. She took our own Nova Bomb aboard and then powered full speed to the station. Despite the danger and continuing damage to the _Icheb_, I ordered my Tactical officer to give as much cover to the _Castiana_, and had Helm lay in a course directly out of the area at Warp speed. Our transwarp had been knocked offline, and was expected to take time to repair. The _Castiana_ rammed into the complex and detonated the remaining bombs – resulting in a subspace shockwave that disabled the Borg vessels before destroying them. Just as it was about to hit us, Engineering got 20% Transwarp power online, and we jumped out of the area" a few stray tears ran down Naomi's face as she went over the death of her wife.

"And that is when you returned back home?" said one of the panel.

"No, Sir" Naomi replied. "We dropped out of Warp, put about and returned to the area under impulse power. We launched shuttles to recover any survivors, and found a few in the hardened shuttles loaded aboard _Voyager_ and _Janeway _before leaving drydock. I remained on station for an additional three days, and sensors located my wife's body thrown clear of the explosion. I have no idea how that happened, Admiral, but it did so I am not questioning it"

"Did you order Captain Wildman to ram the ship?" asked a Captain. "Perhaps so that you might escape at her cost?"

"HOW DARE YOU" Naomi stood so fast her chair went flying back. "I have never ordered anybody to their deaths. How dare you suggest that I ordered my own wife to her death!"

"Be seated, Captain Wildman" the President ordered. "That was out of order, Captain Bush. You are relieved and confined to quarters. Dismissed!" and the afore mentioned Bush left without another word. Although the President was a civilian, he was the Commander in Chief for all Federation forces and an order from him was never disobeyed. "Continue"

"Sir, Yes, Sir" Naomi said, trying to check the anger that had risen in her. "It was clear that the badly injured would not last all the way back to Federation space, so I decided to proceed to Norcadian space to seek treatment and effect enough repairs to the ship to get us back. Despite the best efforts, we lost some people, but people built status chambers and we put the worst of the injuries in there. We left Norcadian space after a few days and set a direct course for Voyager Station at full transwarp speed. After affecting more repairs and offloading the injured and exhausted crew and survivors, we began passage to Utopia Planetia for complete refit and overhaul. We made one brief stop in response to a distress call by the transport _Adams_ under attack from pirates in surplus Klingon vessels. We detained the crews and impounded the vessels, gave aid to the _Adams_ and handed over control to the _Sovereign_ upon her arrival. We then resumed our voyage back and docked at Earth Station McKinley after suffering a problem with our impulse" Naomi finished her report.

# # # # #

"You finished?" Azan asked. He was sat outside the briefing room that Naomi had been questioned about the entire mission in.

"All done" Naomi confirmed.

"What is going to happen?" asked Rebi.

"Starfleet Command is giving Mezoti the rank of Captain from the moment we left dock" Naomi said. "They've taken my other recommendations and accepted them"

"That's good" the Doctor said. The trio had been waiting for Naomi since she had gone inside that morning. They started walking down the corridor and out to the grounds of Starfleet Command. "Have they offered you another assignment yet?" asked the Doctor.

"Not yet" said Naomi. "Since I lost the baby, I've been thinking about leaving Starfleet" she said.

"That would be unfortunate" said Azan. "Starfleet would be losing one of its most respected commanders, and a very experienced officer"

"You have our support in what you do" said Rebi.

"Thanks" Naomi said. "Now I believe you two gentlemen have places to go to" she said to the twins.

"Yes, Ma'am" they saluted and walked quickly off. They had a wedding to finish getting ready for.

"One of these days…" Naomi shook her head.

"Have Starfleet offered you anything?" the Doctor said. "Anything you say to me is in the strictest confidence" he added.

"I've been offered a few positions" said Naomi. "I'm going to take a little while to decide what I'm going to do. Not spent that much time at home, so I might take a long leave of absence. God alone knows that I've earned it" and Naomi bid the Doctor goodbye and walked off for the nearest transporter.

#

Naomi and the Doctor attended the wedding of the twins later that year, and a place was left at the top table out of respect for Mezoti and Icheb – both of whom should have been there. Saghi had recovered from her injuries suffered from Limetka II and was also in attendance at the proceedings. After doing some desk work for a short period, Naomi took the rest of the leave that was owed to her and spent it on Voyager Station. Getting over the death of her wife was difficult, but she learned to put the pain behind her and face the truth. Once she returned to duty, she'd gone back to her old job of overseeing the construction of new ships. Production of the _Voyager_ class continued with the launching of the _Chakotay_ and the _Tuvok_. Another ship was under construction but had not been named yet. Apart from that, she'd also overseen a massive refitting of the _Defiant_ class vessels that had been found to have a major design flaw in their Warp Drives. But that soon lost its sense of fulfilment, and she went for something different.

#

"Captain?" a young Ensign called.

"Yes?" Naomi turned. She had decided to take a position at Starfleet Academy teaching tactics. It wasn't bad really, and she often enjoyed pulling surprises on crews on the flight ranges. Her greatest had been to fly an old _Excelsior_ class ship towards the trainees, and claim she had the Federation President onboard needing urgent medical attention. The trainees had lowered shields whereupon Naomi had lit them up with fire control sensors and locked weapons on the bridge.

"There's an incoming call for you, Sir" the Ensign said. "Admiral Cornwell"

"I'll take it in the briefing room" Naomi said, leaving her class to study fleet combat tactics. She slipped into the briefing room and patched it into the main screen. "Admiral" she nodded.

"_Captain_. _You know that you are coming to the period of assignment to the Academy_?"

"I do, Sir"

"_We'd like to offer you a number of assignments. You can be Officer Commanding Deep Space Nine, Officer Commanding Falklands base or have a starship command_" and Naomi thought long and hard about it.

#

"BANG! BANG! BANG!" Azan said.

"Starfleet regrets that your children died because they were stupid" Rebi said. The pair had beamed inside the classroom had pretended to shoot the Cadets.

"You may rise from the dead" Naomi ordered the Cadets. After they had left, Naomi thanked her friends for their assistance. "How is married life treating you?" she asked.

"It is…"

"Very different" the twins said in unison.

"Well I have been offered a starship command" Naomi said. "I'm to report to my new ship tomorrow morning"

"What ship is it?" asked Azan.

"I am not sure" Naomi said. "They refuse to tell me the name of her"

"What's your mission?" asked Rebi.

"Shakedown and then a mapping survey of the McCray nebula" Naomi replied, leading the way out and to the mess hall.

"Although we're under orders not to reveal the name of your next command, I am sure that you will like it" Azan said.

"We have taken a look at her ourselves, and helped out here and there" Rebi replied. "The crew is made up of the best candidates we could assem- APPLE PIE!" he yelled, and several cadets went flying into walls.

"Wildman to Medical. Emergency medical team to the mess hall" and Naomi shook her head. "Is he ever going to get of that craving?" she asked Azan.

# # # # #

"Good Morning, Ma'am" said the cheerful looking officer. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Edwards – head of Security. If you like to step this way…" he took Naomi's baggage and placed it in the back of the waiting shuttle.

"Nice shuttle" said Naomi, looking around at the interior. She thought that she was on the _Delta Flyer II_. They left the shuttlebay on Spacedock and headed out to one of the orbiting drydocks at San Francisco. All Captains came aboard their new commands via shuttle – a call back to when Kirk boarded the _Enterprise_ by shuttlepod during the _V'ger_ incident. They worked around the other traffic and came towards one drydock in particular. Even from such a distance, the lines of a _Voyager_ class ship were quite familiar to her and she wondered for a moment if she was getting the _Icheb_ again. Then she remembered that it was on a patrol of the outer rim under the newly promoted _Captain_ Boender. Naomi had taken great pleasure in cutting his orders herself, and he was more then overdue for his first command. Edwards brought the shuttle along the port of the ship – skimming the transfer tunnels as he did so. He went out the far side of the dock, then turned it around to face the vessel head on.

"Your new command, Captain" said Edwards.

"Christ almighty…" Naomi's jaw dropped.

"Close" Edwards grinned. The name on the top of the saucer displayed the ship's name for all to see. _USS Mezoti – NCC 82210_. "Congratulations, Captain" Edwards said, and took the shuttle over the saucer and then around to the shuttle bay. The tiny craft glided to the deck with a number of crew in parade groups on the shuttlebay floor. Edwards lowered the ramp and stepped onto the deck. "Captain,_ USS Mezoti_, arriving" and the crew snapped to attention.

"Permission to come aboard?" Naomi asked her first officer.

"Permission Granted" she replied – saluting as she spoke. Naomi stepped onto the deck of her new ship and stood behind the lectern and opened the old fashioned paper orders given to her.

"To Captain Naomi Wildman, Stardate 70321

You are hereby requested, required and directed to take command of the _USS Mezoti_ as of this Stardate.

You shall, with due regard for the safety of the ship, proceed on a shakedown of your ship and test all systems. You shall sail in an expeditious manner and respond to any and all ships in distress. You shall take on such cargo as directed by your superiors, and revictualing and refuelling as you may find necessary from time to time.

Signed

Admiral Saavik

Starfleet Operations

"Carry on" Naomi said. "Dismiss"

#

The crew had been told to stay away from the Deck 7 port airlock, and away from the route leading from it to the main magazines. Naomi pushed an unmarked crate down the corridors until she went inside the armoury with it. Bringing the hover cart up to the level of the doors, Naomi opened the high security storage chamber and rolled the box off and into the space.

"Captain Naomi Wildman, Commanding Officer. Nova Containment authorised – Flotter T Water III" Naomi said, pressing the door controls as she spoke.

"Sir?" the computer addressed Naomi. "Are you sure you want to retain a Nova Bomb onboard ship?"

"No" Naomi replied. "But all the same, Flotter T Water III" and the computer bleeped acknowledgment and closed the door – sealing it with soft thumping noises as it did the magnetic and metal bolt locks. Not even the First Officer knew the last Nova Bomb in existence was aboard the vessel, and she hoped she would never have cause to use it.

#

"Report" Naomi said. Her tour of the ship had impressed her greatly, though she was used to most of it. The one big change was that two of the weapons labs had been turned into scientific labs.

"All stations manned and ready" said Donaldson – the first officer.

"Then let's get going. All hands rig for departure" Naomi turned to her chief engineer. "Chief, please bring the main deflector, warp drive and impulse engines online. Make sure our warp intermix ratio is at optimal efficiency"

"Aye, Captain. Main deflector and main drive systems register as ready"

"Tactical Officer, please bring the structural integrity field online, and make sure our tactical systems are primed and ready"

"Shields and defensive systems registering as fully operational, Sir. We have a full torpedo compliment, and the structural integrity fields are engaged for transit" it replied.

"Helm, clear all moorings and take us out easy – one quarter impulse power" Naomi sat in her chair like Captain Janeway used to do.

"All moorings cleared" Helm reported. "Impulse engines engaged" and _Mezoti_ flew out of the dock. "We are clear and free to navigate"

"Very well" Naomi said. She was about to order a nice and easy start, but then a wicked thought crossed her mind, made a home and refused to go. "Helm set course out of the solar system. Speed Warp 5"

"Aye, Captain"

"Engage" and the newest ship in the fleet took to warp.

"Captain, we are receiving an emergency distress call" the Operations manager said. "It is from the mining vessel _Red Dwarf_. It is reporting a Warp Core breach and requests assistance"

"Code One Zero Alpha – Ship In Distress!" Naomi said. "Yellow Alert. Helm, get the location and alter out heading to intercept it"

"Aye" Helm report as the ship went to Yellow Alert. "Captain, I am reading an imbalance in the Warp Drive. We should drop out of Warp and deal with the problem" but Naomi just shook her head and smiled.

"She just wants to stretch her legs" she replied. "Helm, increase to maximum warp – full speed ahead!"

**A/N:**

**And that, ladies, gentlemen and Transgendered persons (just covering all the bases there) is that**


End file.
